^ '^^ ^^\i\ 



.^ 



v^ 
















-^ 












^^0^ 







V*'^"'%°' 



^v-^'?' 











«« A 



tibe modern Ueacber's Series 

Edited by WILLIAM C. BAGLEY 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO • DALLAS 
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO, OF CANADA, Ltd. 

TORONTO 



THE 

AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

A GENETIC STUDY OF PRINCIPLES, PRACTICES, 
AND PRESENT PROBLEMS 



BY 
ROSS L. FINNEY, Ph.D. 

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF EDUCATIONAL SOCIOLOGY 
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1921 

AU rights reserved 



VK 






COPYBIGHT, 1921, 

By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and clectrotyped. Published March, igai. 



Notinooti Puss 
J. S. Gushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 

Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



§)CI,A6ii;n5 



'^^J^ T^ \ 



PREFACE 

It is almost universally agreed that the history of 
education, as traditionally organized and presented, is of 
doubtful value in the normal school curriculum. The 
reasons for this it is not necessary to enumerate here ; 
they are familiar to all who have had to do with the 
training of teachers. It would be a distinct loss, how- 
ever, to eliminate the subject entirely, because his- 
torical perspective is indispensable to an adequate 
comprehension of present-day education. This text 
has grown out of five years' experience in teaching 
the history of education to hundreds of normal school 
students ; and is an attempt to arrange the material, 
as set forth in the secondary sources, in such a 
way as to meet the needs of normal school students. 
A glance at the Table of Contents will reveal the 
plan. Attention is confined to the American public 
school system, in which the candidate is to teach. The 
usual descriptions of ancient and medieval schools are 
omitted entirely, and even modern European develop- 
ments are discussed only in so far as their relevancy 
is easily discernible by the typical student in a normal 
school. The bearing of early movements in our educa- 



vi PREFACE 

tional history upon current problems is explicitly 
pointed out. And the phenomenal developments of 
the past thirty years — usually omitted from the 
traditional type of history — are set forth at some 
length. The text is intended as a discussion of con- 
temporaneous education from the genetic point of 
view. 

For purposes of topical study cross references have 
been inserted in the text and a very complete index 
prepared. 

Ross L. Finney 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Chapter I. The Colonial Period, 1607-1776 ... 1 

The Outlines of colonial history — The European origin of 

American institutions — The old aristocratic conception of 

education — The new religious conception of education — 

Schools in New England — New Amsterdam — Pennsylvania 

— The support of schools — Local taxes — The three sec- 
tions — Dame schools — Men teachers — Schoolhouses — 
The education of girls — The curriculum — The New England 
Primer — Other subjects — Apprenticeship — Bad methods 
of teaching — Origin of the school district — Higher education 

— The disciplinary theory — Grammar schools. 

Chapter II. Rousseau 22 

Biographical sketch — The social situation — The un- 
natural education of the period — Rousseau's aim — The 
" Emile " — Naturalism the keynote of Rousseau's message — 
Basedow — Rousseau's disciples — Dewey quotes Rousseau 

— Rousseau the mouthpiece of democracy. 

Chapter III. The Period of Nationalization, 1776-1835 38 
Educational ideals of the early statesmen — The educa- 
tional transition — The new nationalism — The new school 
system — The rise of a free school system in New York state 

— In New York City — In Pennsylvania — In the South — 
In the West — The tragedy of blindness to the signs of the 
times — Textbooks and methods — The Monitorial system 

— The primary school — Colleges — The academies — 
Education abroad. 

Chapter IV. Pestalozzi 64 

The historic background — Early life of Pestalozzi — 
"Leonard and Gertrude" — Later life of Pestalozzi — Pesta- 

vii 



Vlii TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

lozzi's pedagogical principles — Educational experimentation 

— Industrial training — Kindly discipline — The objective 
method — Its value to the teacher — The analytical method 

— Pestalozzi's influence. 

Chapter V. Herbart and Froebel . . . . .84 
Herbart's biography — The aim of education — Subject 
matter — Arrangement of the curriculum — The recitation 

— Apperception — Herbart's influence — Froebel's early life 

— Froebel's first educational venture — The Blankenburg 
kindergarten — Disappointment and death — The kinder- 
garten — Froebel's pedagogical principles — Mysticism — 
Self-activity — Social participation — Froebel's influence. 

Chapter VI. The Great Educational Awakening, 1835- 

1861 109 

Territorial expansion — Industrial development — 
Humanitarian movements — Idealism — The educational 
awakening — The forerunners — Biographical sketch of 
Horace Mann — vSecretary of the Board of Education — 
Horace Mann's reforms — Henry Barnard — Other sections — 
Other leaders — "Little Men" — Pedagogical Hterature of 
the period — Calvin Stowe and the beginnings of teachers' 
associations — Rise of the grading system — State and 
county administration — Colleges and academies — Un- 
finished business — The district school — Consolidation — 
Three principles — Support by taxation — The "bachelor 
argument" — Secular control — The "Godless schools" 
argument — State and county supervision — The "local self- 
government" objection — Solidarity — Foreign education. 

Chapter VII. The Transition Period, 1861-1890 . . 146 
Industrial development — Moral and religious changes — 
The South — Educational readjustments — The rise of the 
high school — Typical curriculums — Enrichment of the 
elementary curriculum — The grading system — Tlie demand 
for science teaching — Spencer's famous essay — The elective 



TABLE OF CONTENTS IX 



PAGE 



system — Teaching agriculture — The learned professions — 
Professionalizing teaching — Beginnings of the science of 
education — Pestalozzianism : E. A. Sheldon — The Oswego 
movement — The new normal schools and the Oswego idea 

— The kindergarten — Colonel Parker and the Quincy 
movement — Colonel Parker at Chicago — The National 
Education Association — Pedagogical literature — The tend- 
ency toward centralization — TTie,_,Bi^eaii ofE^jiGa^ion -^ 
Development of State School Systems — Development of 
city and county units — Educational progress in the South 

— The higher education of women — Extension work — 
Foreign education — Summary. 

Chapter VIII. The Recent Period, 1890-1920. A, Educa- 
tional Reorganization 186 

The social situation — Economic developments — The 
spiritual side — International relations — A new education 
for a new age — Increase in the quantity of schooling -^ 
Improvement of quality — Investment and equipment — 
High school development — Higher education — College 
entrance — Internal changes : Adapting the school to the 
needs of the child — Making the grading system flexible 

— The Cincinnati plan — The Gary system — The Junior 
High School — The tendency away from locaUsm : — (a) Con- 
solidation — (6) The county unit — (c) State — (d) Federal 
— Educational extension — By correspondence — ** Moonlight 
schools" — The Y. M. C. A. — Chautauquas, libraries, etc. 

— The professions — Law — Medicine — Engineering — 
Foreign education — The English Education Act of 1902 

— China. 

Chapter IX. The Recent Period. B. Enriching the 

Curriculum 226 

The "common branches": Reading — Spelling — Lan- 
guage — Arithmetic — Geography — History — Hygiene — 
Social studies — Art — Music — The demand for industrial 



X TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

education — What the schools are doing — The Smith-Lever 
and Smith-Hughes Acts — Corporation schools — Army 
schools — Vocational Guidance — Extra-curricular activities 

— Play — The Boy Scout movement — The wider use of the 
school plant — Religious education — The health movement 

— The high school curriculum — Flexner's ''Modern School" 

— Higher education — The function of education in a de- 
veloping democracy. 

Chapter X. The Recent Period. 1890-1917. C. Educa- 
tional Theory and Science 263 

Herbartianism — Pestalozzianism — The new Froebel- 
ianism : Colonel Parker — John Dewey — Appraisal of 
Dewey's theories — The extent of Froebehan practices — 
The kindergarten — Psychology and its applications — 
Child study — Educational psychology — Mental measure- 
ments — Standard tests — Psychology applied to classroom 
management — Psychology and the conduct of the recitation 

— Formal discipline — The educational survey — The rise 
of a science of education — Scoring buildings — Costs — 
Age-grade distribution — Pupils' achievements — Standards 

— Theories underlying curricular changes — Educational 
sociology — Popular demands — Teacher training — 
Teachers' voluntary associations — Pedagogical hterature. 

Chapter XL The Present Outlook oOO 

The significance of the war — War-time activities in the 
schools — School attendance in war-time — Lessons of the 
war — The schools make the nation — The extent of physical 
defects — Illiteracy — The need for Americanization — 
Vocational education — Applying the mental measurements 

— Education as a cure for the social unrest — The plight 
of the rural school — The special needs of the South — The 
shortage of teachers — Shall teachers unionize ? — The 
program of the N. E. A. Commission — Education abroad — 

V^nglartd — France — Germany — Russia — A glance into 



TABLE OF CONTENTS xi 

PAGE 

the future — The new super-civihzation — The new schools 
of the new age : curriculum — Universal high school grad- 
uation — The new technique — The reason for federal aid — 
New professional standards — The noble calling of the 
teacher. 

Index 325 



EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 

The young teacher, entering upon the service of the 
pubHc schools to-day, needs three types of professional 
equipment. In the first place, he must be supplied 
with his '^ stock in trade"; he must be firmly and 
broadly grounded in the skills, knowledges, and ideals 
which it will be his business to transmit to the coming 
generation. In the second place, he must have an 
initial mastery of the technique of his art, — an initial 
skill in adapting his materials to the widely varying 
needs and capacities of children. In the third place, 
he must have some notion of the structure and purpose 
of the organization of which he will form a part, to the 
end both that his own practice may be intelligent and 
that he may participate intelligently with his fellow- 
workers in the progressive improvement of the school 
system. 

It is to this third type of equipment that a book 
like this will chiefly contribute. And this phase of 
teacher-preparation is particularly important to-day. 
It is becoming increasingly evident that the best way 
to build a strong educational structure is to work from 
the bottom up rather than from the top down. Very 
rapidly during the past few years the practice of having 
school policies and programs worked out cooperatively 



XIV EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 

by the teachers themselves has been replacing the 
older practice of leaving to the administrative heads 
of the schools the sole responsibility for this impor- 
tant task of constructive educational thinking. This 
movement is so clearly both salutary and inevitable 
that it would be the height of unwisdom not to have it 
amply reflected in the professional schools that prepare 
teachers. 

Mr. Finney^s treatment of the American Public 
School is well adapted to introduce the prospective 
teacher to this broader study of his profession. It 
is a sound principle that complicated problems are 
best understood in the light of their genesis. Few 
problems are more complicated or more significant than 
are those that modern education presents. Probably 
in no other group of social problems will the genetic 
approach yield larger returns^ provided it leaves with 
the student a clear and comprehensive picture of the 
gradual transition from simplicity to complexity. 

The author of this book has had a long and successful 
experience in preparing recruits for the public-school 
service. He knows intimately his clientele. In addi- 
tion, he brings to the interpretation of school problems 
a thoroughgoing acquaintance with the broader field 
of the social sciences. We are sure that the chapters 
which follow will abundantly prove the happiness of 
this combination. 

William C. Bagley. 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

CHAPTER I 

THE COLONIAL PERIOD, 1607-1776 

The Outlines of Colonial History. — It will be 
remembered that the first English settlement in 
what is now the United States was made at James- 
town, Virginia, in 1607, and the next at Plymouth, 
Massachusetts, in 1620. The New Amsterdam colony 
was planted by the Dutch in New York in 1623, though 
it was taken by the English in 1664. Penn founded the 
settlement at Philadelphia in 1682 ; but meantime 
several other colonies had been started between 
Philadelphia and Jamestown, and also in New England 
and in the South. During the century and three quar- 
ters between 1607 and 1776 the colonists were busy 
with their small beginnings, — fighting the Indians, 
clearing the forests, and subduing the soil, taking their 
part in the European struggles for the control of this 
continent, starting their infant industries in mining, 
manufacturing, shipping, and trade, and laying the 
foundations of their social institutions. At the out- 
break of the Revolutionary War there were about three 
million people in the English colonies, scattered along 
the coast from Maine to Georgia, and for the most part, 
between the Appalachian Mountains and the sea. 

1 



2 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

The European Origin of American Institutions. — 

During the middle of the seventeenth centnry, while 
tfie English colonies in America were being settled, 
all Europe was disturbed by religious wars. In Eng- 
land the dispute was political as well as religious. It 
was the question of the divine right of kings. On the 
one side were the King, the English Church, and a 
social system based upon the ascendency of the aristo- 
cratic classes. On the other side were the Parliament 
and the people, the dissenters in religion, and all those 
who demanded more democracy in all phases of life. 

The Old Aristocratic Conception of Education. — 
Each of these groups took a characteristic, and perfectly 
logical, attitude toward popular education. The royal- 
ist party, which favored authority in political and 
religious life, felt little or no interest in the instruction 
of the common people. They believed that the business 
of the poor was to work and not to think. " To make 
society happy," they said, '^ it is requisite that great 
numbers should be ignorant as well as poor." This 
point of view was maintained throughout the sixteenth, 
seventeenth, eighteenth, and even the early nineteenth 
centuries. It was vigorously urged against the demo- 
cratic extension of education a century ago, and has 
some more or less conscious adherents to the present 
day. Virginia and almost the whole South were settled 
by English royalists. Southern society was laid out, 
therefore, on the aristocratic basis. The plantation 
type of farming sprang up as a result, and was greatly 



THE COLONIAL PERIOD, 1607-1776 3 

favored by climatic conditions. Plantation farming in 
turn reinforced the aristocratic social system. No 
organized attempt was made^ therefore, toward public 
elementary education. This function was left wholly 
to the family ; which meant that the rich employed 
tutors, and that the poor grew up illiterate, except as 
occasional mothers taught their own, and perhaps 
also their neighbors', children to read. It is not sur- 
prising then to find Governor Berkeley writing in 1671 : 
^^ I thank God there are no free schools nor printing 
presses, and I hope we shall not have them these 
hundred years." His hope was realized, and more 
too ; for no system of public schools really worthy of 
the name developed in Virginia before the middle of 
the nineteenth century. 

The New Religious Conception of Education. — 
As for the other party in England, their ideas about 
education grew more out of religious than out of polit- 
ical considerations. The Puritans, and those of kindred 
religious beliefs throughout Europe, held that the Bible 
is the guide of life, and the right to read and interpret 
it the test of religious liberty. Each person must there- 
fore learn to read it for himself. Hence the necessity 
for schools. This religious motive is quaintly ex- 
pressed in the preamble to the Massachusetts law of 
1647 : '^ It being one chief project of that old deluder 
Satan, to keep men from the knowledge of the Scrip- 
ture," etc. New England and the Middle Colonies 
were settled by this type of people : the Pilgrims and 



4 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

Puritans in Massachusetts^ the Quakers in Rhode 
Island and Pennsylvania, the Dutch at New Amster- 
dam, the French Huguenots at New Rochelle, the 
Swedes in Delaware, and the Germans in Pennsylvania. 
The religious motive led to the early establishment of 
schools in all these colonies. There is record that the 
Boston town meeting in 1635 officially requested 
^' Brother Philemon Purmont to become schoolmaster, 
for the teaching and nourturing of children." Pro- 
vision was made for the teacher's salary. The records 
show that schools were established in Dorchester in 
1640, in Ipswich and Salem in 1641, in Cambridge in 
1642, in Weymouth in 1643, in Roxbury in 1645, and 
in Plymouth in 1650. 

Schools in New England. — In 1647 the Colonial 
Court (the legislature) of the Massachusetts Bay 
Colony enacted the famous law whose preamble was 
just quoted. It provided 

*' That every township within this jurisdiction, after the 
Lord hath increased them to the number of fifty householders, 
shall then forthwith appoint one within their town to teach 
all such children as shall resort to him, to read and write, 
whose wages shall be paid, either by the parents or masters 
of such children, or by the inhabitants in general, by way of 
supply, as the major part of those who order the prudentials 
of the town shall appoint. And it is further ordered that 
where any town shall increase to the number of one hundred 
families or householders, they shall set up a grammar school, 
the master thereof being able to instruct youths so far as 
they shall be fitted for the university." 



THE COLONIAL PERIOD, 1607-1776 5 

In 1650 Connecticut passed a law embodying the 
provisions of this Massachusetts law. 

These early New England laws are of immense 
importance, since they mark the beginning of our 
American system of that free, secular, universal edu- 
cation which we now understand to be so necessary 
to democracy. We realize that one hundred million 
people cannot be fused in a common culture and 
assured equal opportunity without such schools. The 
early New Englanders did not realize this, nor did 
they foresee how great were the foundations that 
they were laying. They transferred the control and 
support of education from the church to the state by 
a sort of providential accident. It happened purely 
because church and civil government were not sharply 
distinguished in their minds. Such a law could never 
have been passed had not all the people of the colony 
been of the same religious faith. Thus came into 
existence the first system of state education in Amer- 
ica, one of the first in the western world. 

New Amsterdam. — The Dutch West India Com- 
pany was required by the States General of Holland 
to maintain a clergyman and a schoolmaster. The 
schoolmaster^s expenses are entered in early esti- 
mates of the company's expenses. The first school- 
master, Adam Roelandsen, arrived in 1633. With his 
advent a school tax was levied. The schoolmaster 
was also grave-digger, court bellringer, and pre- 
centor. 



6 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

Pennsylvania. — When William Penn arrived in the 
New World in 1682 at least one school was in operation 
among the Swedes, who had crossed over from Dela- 
ware. Provision was immediately enacted in Penn's 
^^ Frame of Government/' and by the Assembly, for 
the education of all children. Parents and guardians 
were required, under penalty, to see that all children 
were taught a useful trade, and to read and write. The 
Penn Charter of 1701, however, made no mention of 
schools ; the colony failed to maintain schools, the re- 
sponsibility devolved principally upon the churches, 
and education in Pennsylvania consequently made a 
slow growth during the eighteenth century. However, 
the colony produced one remarkable genius in educa- 
tional reform, Christopher Dock, whose ^' Schule- 
ordnung '' (School Organization) anticipated some of 
the reforms of Pestalozzi. 

The Support of Schools. — Contributions, tuitions, 
^' rates," and local taxes were the most important 
sources of the support of colonial schools. It is in- 
teresting to note that a load of wood was often in- 
cluded in the tuition charge. The rate, or rate bill, 
was a per capita tax levied on the children attending 
school. That is, parents were taxed in proportion 
to the number of children they sent to school. The 
plan, which was borrowed from England, was in gen- 
eral use not only throughout the colonial period, but 
in some states down to the middle of the nineteenth 
century. 



THE COLONIAL PERIOD, 1607-1776 7 

Local Taxes. — The growth of the local tax idea 
during the colonial period was very significant because 
out of it eventually grew our system of free public 
schools. Mention was just made of local taxes in 
the case of the first school in New Amsterdam. It 
was only in New England^ however, that the idea 
took root and developed ; elsewhere it eventually 
died out. The following are typical extracts from 
New England town records. New Haven, 1651 : 
" For the encouragement of Mr. James in teaching 
school; the Court ordered that he should have £10 
for the year, to be paid out of the town treasury ; the 
year to begin when he begins teaching. The rest he 
is to take of the parents of the children that he teacheth, 
by the quarter, to make him up a full recompense for 
his pains." Boston, 1683 : " That the town shall 
allow £25 per annum for each school for the present, 
and that such persons as send their children to school 
(that are able) should pay something to the master 
for his better encouragement in his work." The laws 
of both Massachusetts and Connecticut, as we have 
seen, required each town to maintain a town school. 
The fine that the town had to pay if it did not do so 
was almost enough to maintain the school. The town 
school had to compete with private elementary schools 
which charged tuition. Hence the town schools 
gradually dropped the tuition charge ; naturally if 
the people in any case had to pay taxes they did not 
care to pay tuitions also. As practically all the people 



8 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



were of the same religion, that reHgion could be taught 
in the town school. Religious differences were there- 
fore no obstacle to tax-supported schools. By the 
middle of the eighteenth century, Boston had firmly 
established the principle and practice of tax support. 
Eventually free, tax-supported town schools became 

the rule throughout 
New England, though 
the rate bill persisted 
quite generally as one 
form of local taxation. 
Private schools gradu- 
ally became the excep- 
tion, although " dame 
schools '^ for very young 
children continued. 
Thus it was in New 
England that the local 
tax system had its chief 
development. 

The Three Sections. 
— For purposes of edu- 
cational history the colonial region may conveniently 
be divided into three parts : New England, the Middle 
Colonies, and the South, as indicated on the accom- 
panying map. A different institution took charge of 
education in each of these sections. In New England, 
as we have seen, the state early assumed the control, 
and to a large extent the support, of the schools. In 




The Three Sections 



THE COLONIAL PERIOD, 1607-1776 9 

the Middle Colonies schools were maintained by the 
church ; while in Virginia and the South education 
was left to the family. The reason for this has al- 
ready been explained : each colony transplanted from 
England the type of school that corresponded to its 
own social system. It was only in New England , as 
we have seen, that a new institution developed, — ■ 
namely, the free, tax-supported public school, which 
was destined eventually to crowd the other two sys- 
tems almost entirely out of existence. This, however, 
did not occur until the nineteenth century, when 
civic rather than religious reasons began to necessitate 
universal enlightenment. As for New York City, the 
British seized that colony in 1664, while the royalists 
were temporarily in the ascendency at home. As a 
result there grew up in New York City a combination 
of the parochial and private systems. Due to this 
influence. New York was seriously handicapped in 
her later educational development, as we shall see. 

Dame Schools. — The " dame school " was a char- 
acteristic institution of the entire colonial period. 
It grew out of the responsibility each mother felt to 
teach her own children to read. Mothers who for 
any reason wished to be relieved of the responsibility 
sent their children to a neighbor who taught her own 
children the rudiments, often busying herself meantime 
with her house work. Often, too, such a school was 
conducted by elderly women in straitened circum- 
stances. Record exists of one of these dame schools 



10 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



ill New Haven as early as 1651. In the Indian attack 
on Deerfield in 1694^ '' Mrs. Hannah Beaman, the 
school dame^ with her young flock on the home lot 
next northward; started for the fort. It was a race 
for life; the dame with her charge up the street, the 
enemy up the parallel swamp on the east to intercept 
them before they should reach the gate. Fear gave 




A Dame School 

wings to the children ; the fort was reached in safety 
and the gate shut.'^ Th-e following quotations de- 
scribe the dame schools of the eighteenth century : 

''An old maiden lady was employed occasionally a short 
time to teach children their letters and to spell out words. 
Her school was kept one month in my barn. She did what 
she could to teach the young ideas how to shoot, but was 
quite incompetent. I visited her school on one occasion 
and she had a small class advanced to words of three syllables 



THE COLONIAL PERIOD, 1607-1776 11 

in the spelling book, and when they came to the word ' anec- 
dote/ she called it ' a-neck'dote ' and defined it to be 'a food 
eaten between meals.'" 

''When I was three years old, I began to attend a child's 
school in the immediate neighborhood of my father's house. 
I recollect distinctly holding to my sister's apron as a pro- 
tection against the cattle in the road. I also remember the 
appearance of my primer, from one corner of which the 
blue paper covering had been torn. . . . My patient and 
faithful instructress taught me to read before I could speak 
plain; considerately mingling the teacher and the nurse, 
she kept a pillow and a bit of carpet in the corner of the 
schoolroom where the little heads throbbing from a prema- 
ture struggle with the tall double letters and ampersand, 
with Korah's troops and Vashti's pride, were permitted, 
nay, encouraged to go to sleep." 

The '^ dame school " persisted till the early part of 
the nineteenth century^ when as the primary school^ it 
was gradually merged into the public school system 
(see p. 57). 

Men Teachers. — The dame school was for small 
children. During the winter months, when older 
children attended school, it was customary to employ 
a man. Too often such men were ignorant and in- 
competent ; sometimes they were manual laborers 
who supplemented their summer's wages by a few 
w^eeks' teaching in the winter. 

Schoolhouses. — At first there were no schoolhouses. 
Schools were held in kitchens, garrets, barns, or any 
other available space. The meeting house was often 
used for school purposes. Often old meeting houses 



12 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

were made over for school purposes. Gradually, how- 
ever, schoolhouses were erected ; though it was not 
unusual throughout the period to utilize other build- 
ings, especially for dame schools. 

The Education of Girls. — There is no very satis- 
factory evidence as to the education of girls. It is 
certain that some town schools provided for them; 
but it is probable that some did not. In many lo- 
calities the education of girls, at least before the Revo- 
lution, must have been confined to the dame schools. 
Before the close of the eighteenth century, ^^ most New 
England towns had made some provision for the educa- 
tion of girls, either in short summer terms, or at the 
noon hours, or other interval, of the town (boys') 
school. But no such opportunity was afforded girls 
to make the most of themselves, as had been forced 
upon most boys for a half-dozen generations." Private 
schools for ^^ misses " were rare. 

The Curriculum. — Life in New England during the 
colonial period was characterized by an extreme moral 
and religious seriousness, and from this seriousness has 
come a * most important contribution to our whole 
American civilization. But, unfortunately, religion 
practically monopolized the spiritual and cultural sides 
of life. While it is true that many of the first settlers 
of Massachusetts were of an exceptionally high in- 
tellectual type, their culture was limited to theology 
and the classical literature and philosophy. After 
the first generation passed away there was, due to 



THE COLONIAL PERIOD, 1607-1776 13 

various causes, a distinct decline in intellectual interests. 
Especially during the eighteenth century, New Eng- 
land became almost unbelievably destitute of art, 
science, music, and secular literature. This poverty 
of culture was reflected in the curriculum of elementary 
schools. The course of study consisted almost en- 
tirely of reading and writing. 

The New England Primer. — The famous New 
England Primer was in very general use. This is a 
book of about eighty pages. It contains, first, the 
alphabet, then a page of easy syllables, and next, five 
short word lists, the first of one syllable, the last of 
five syllables. Then follows an illustrated alpha- 
betical rhyme, beginning 

"In Ac^am's Fall 
We sinned all.'^ 

and ending 

"Zacheus he 
Did climb the tree 
His Lord to see." 

Next come a page of " The Dutiful Child's Promises,'' 
beginning : "I will fear God and honour the King " ; 
then " An Alphabet of Lessons for Youth," consisting 
of scripture texts. After these are the Lord's Prayer, 
the Apostles' Creed, and the Ten Commandments. . 
The next page is devoted to pious doggerel ; then the 
books of the Old and New Testaments are listed. The 



14 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 





THE COLONIAL PERIOD, 1607-1776 



15 



numerals up to one hundred are printed in three 
cokinms, Roman, Arabic, and the words. The last 
page of this has '' Mr." in large type in the lower 
right-hand corner. The next page is occupied with a 
wood cut appropriate to the inscription: " Mr. John 
Rogers, Minister of the Gospel in London, was the 
first Martyr in Q. 
Mary's Reign, and 
was burnt Sii Smith- 
field, February the 
fourteenth, 1554. 
His wife, with nine 
small Children, and 
one at her Breast, 
following him to 
the stake, with 
which sorrowful 
sight he was not in 
the least daunted, 
but with wonderful 
Patience died cour- 
ageously for the 
Gospel of Jesus Christ.' 




MR. JohnRogers, minifterof the 
gofpel in London^ was the firfl mar- 
tyr in Queen Mary's reign, and was 
burnt at Smithfield, Fchruary 14, 1554. 

The Martyrdom of John Rogers. From 

Webster's New England Primer. 



Then follow seven pages of 
admonitions, in homely verse, to his children, '^ writ " 
some days before his death. There can be no doubt 
that these verses were well selected to impress the 
youth of that period with a profound reverence for the 
moral seriousness and personal heroism of the men who 
fought the battles of religious liberty and laid the moral 



16 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



foundations of modern society. The last forty pages 
of the book are given over to the Shorter Catechism. 

Other Subjects. — This was practically the only 
textbook in use in the elementary schools of New Eng- 
land between 1727, when it was 
printed; and the Revolutionary 
War. It; or similar books im- 
ported from England, was in use 
in the other colonies. Writing 
was also taught in these early 
schools, but in a manner very 
wasteful of time. It was cus- 
tomary for the master to pass 
from desk to desk of his pupils, 
sharpen each one's quill with his 
pen-knife, and then set a copy. 
Arithmetic was sometimes, but 
not always, taught ; teachers de- 
pending upon manuscript text- 
books that they in turn had taken 
from their teachers. Little was 
included beyond the fundamental 
operations, and teachers were 
usually incompetent to the task of teaching these 
well. 

This was the scope of the elementary curriculum. 
The poverty of ideas and narrowness of intellectual 
horizon can be imagined, especially if one reflects that 
Puritanism tabooed music, literature, art, and beauty. 



pabcDefgl>j| 
jfelmnopqr? 

\%nti)tB&mt(ifC0Dtffe\ 

|p\t)rfat{)er,tt!{>Jcl3a«jn^raJ 
I vy t)cn, O.iJotticb b? t!ip Xiamei 
IChp feingfiora tomv^W toil be 
jfiont In emiiAsn is in^tabew I 
|<&utf mt\}\8 Dap out oattp bmtt I 
|2tnOfo;niuf bs our rrtfpa(l<0j)| I 
|ttifr foiQiut tijfm xf)Sit crerpafTe 
a9afriatii?:3(rtt3le$6si}ignotimo 
umptflUeh, 25i3t bdiStc bdfrom 
tbili : fo} tt}inf 15 tt)0feingtionif, i 
jott^r.anD clc)j?,foj tmC^mtn- 1 



The Hornbook. A dou 
ble-purpose instrument. 



THE COLONIAL PERIOD, 1607-1776 17 

Apprenticeship. — Apprenticeship played an impor- 
tant part in colonial education. The Pennsylvania 
law referred to was typical of all the colonies. A 
Massachusetts law in 1642 provided that each family 
must furnish its children and wards with elementary 
instruction and training in some trade. 

''This court," so the record runs, ''taking into serious 
consideration the great neglect of many parents and masters, 
in training up their children in learning and labor, and other 
employments, which may be profitable to the commonwealth, 
do hereby order and decree, that in every town, the chosen 
men appointed to manage the prudential affairs of the same, 
shall henceforth stand charged with the care of the redress 
of this evil ; so as they shall be sufficiently punished by fines, 
for the neglect thereof, upon presentment of grand jury, or 
other information of complaint in any court in this jurisdic- 
tion : and for this end, they or the greater number of them 
shall have power to take account, from time to time, of all 
parents and masters, and of their children, especially of their 
ability to read and understand the principles of religion and 
the capital laws of this country, and to impose fines upon 
such as shall refuse to render such account to them when 
they shall be required; and they shall have power, with 
the consent of any court, or the magistrate, to put forth 
apprentices, the children of such as they shall find not able 
and fit to employ and bring them up. They are also to 
provide that a sufficient quantity of materials, as hemp, 
flax, etc., may be raised in their several towns, and tools 
and implements provided for working out the same." 

Bad Methods of Teaching. — The methods were 
equally primitive. Each pupil in the school was in- 



18 THE AMEHICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

structed just as if he were being taught alone. The 
work was all memoriter ; the motive for the most part 
was fear. The wasteful method of teaching wTiting 
has already been mentioned. Naturally the problem 
of discipline was a serious one ; and the theology of 
the time — to the effect that children are born in total 
depravity and are to be regenerated only by rigorous dis- 
cipline — led to severe and often cruel practices. The 
following words^ written of European schools^ perhaps 
do not greatly exaggerate American conditions : " The 
very sight of a school as one approaches it is depressing 
and cruel, for what with its floggings and tears, and 
the continual wailings that proceed from it, it invariably 
suggests a prison." ^ This accorded with the spirit of 
that age, for criminal treatment was cruel beyond be- 
lief.^ Capital punishment was sometimes inflicted upon 
young people for persistent disobedience of parents.^ 

Origin of the School District. — As indicated in the 
law of 1647; the original school distric+s in Massa- 
chusetts consisted of the town, i.e. the township. As 
time passed the township gradually split up into smaller 
districts. The change, which was most significant for 
American education, came about in this way. The law 
required a school to be held in each township. As 
population increased, and especially as intellectual 
standards declined, it became convenient to move the 



1 Learned, "The Oberlehrer," p. 15. 

2 Wines, "Punishment and Reformation," Chapter V. 

3 Boone, "Education in the United States," p. 49. 



THE COLONIAL PERIOD, 1607-1776 19 

school from place to place in the township for the 
accommodation of the residents. Then the custom 
gradually grew up of dividing the school : that is, of 
holding part of it in one place and part in another, — ■ 
in reality two or more schools. By mutual consent, 
the committeeman in each locality managed his own 
school. By Revolutionary times these little districts, 
subdivisions of the township, had become practically 
independent in the conduct of school affairs. As there 
was very little law regulating them, and no overhead 
supervision, these independent school districts were 
virtually autonomous. This was the origin of the dis- 
trict system, later sanctioned by law, and copied from 
New England by practically all of the Northern and 
Western states. It came into existence because it was 
suited both to the geography of the region and to the 
educational ideals of New England at their very lowest 
ebb. The district system is a bad arrangement, because 
it permits the people of any neighborhood to maintain 
as poor a school as their poverty may necessitate or 
their ignorance tolerate. It is increasingly a handicap 
to educational progress, because it stands in the way of 
consolidation, and thereby hinders the development 
of efficient graded schools and high schools in sparsely 
settled districts. We shall see what a long, slow process 
it has been to transfer the control and support of schools 
in part to the county, state, and federal governments. 
Higher Education. — The story of secondary and 
higher education is an interesting chapter in colonial 



20 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

history. Within six years after the settlement of 
Massachusetts Bay^ Harvard College was established 
(1636) at Cambridge. This is indicative of the superior 
type of men that founded that colony ; England pro- 
duced no better men in that period of protest against 
Stuart autocracy than the Pilgrim and Puritan leaders 
who came to New England. Yale was established in 
1701. Almost from the beginning a college was planned 
in Virginia, for, though the aristocratic society of that 
colony was indifferent to the elementary education 
of the common people, it was interested in the advanced 
education of the leaders. On account of Indian wars, 
however, nothing materialized till 1693, when the 
College of William and Mary was founded. Princeton, 
Pennsylvania, Columbia, Brown, Rutgers, and Dart- 
mouth all made humble beginnings, some of them under 
different names, during the generation just preceding 
the Revolution. 

In those days the college course consisted mostly of 
Latin, Greek, mathematics, and philosophy. The last 
included moral and political theory. Toward the close 
of the period a very little science was taught under the 
headings of astronomy, natural philosophy (which we 
should now call physics), and natural history (which 
we should recognize as elementary botany and zoology). 
Under good teachers Latin and Greek meant an intimate 
and stimulating acquaintance with the rich thought- 
life and art treasures of the ancient Greeks and Romans. 
This was undoubtedly the best organization of human 



THE COLONIAL PERIOD, 1607-1776 21 

culture then available. Modern science was in its 
infancy. Modern literatures were but little developed, 
although what had appeared was neglected in the col- 
leges ; social science in the modern sense of the term was 
unknown. Hence the monopoly of the classics. As a 
matter of fact, their grip on the schools and colleges ac- 
tually retarded the growth of modern interests through- 
out this entire period both in Europe and America. 

The Disciplinary Theory. — This grip was tightened 
by the disciplinary theory of education that prevailed. 
According to this theory the purpose of education is to 
strengthen the reasoning powers, not to furnish useful 
information. This was an ancient doctrine, which 
Plato had applied to mental gymnastics, and the medie- 
val monks to moral self-denial. As the vernacular 
languages came into use, in the sixteenth and seven- 
teenth centuries, the classics, held in the schools largely 
by sheer force of tradition, had to be justified. There- 
upon teachers revived the disciplinary theory. 

Grammar Schools. — The Latin Grammar school was 
the typical secondary institution of the period. Its 
principal, though not its only, function was to prepare 
candidates for college entrance. Many such candidates 
were prepared by tutors, however, especially in the 
South. Boys entered these schools at an early age, 
and spent their time in a weary grind on Latin grammar. 
Only rare teachers made the work interesting. The 
rod and the dunce cap were almost the only forms of 
motivation. Obviously a reform was overdue. 



CHAPTER II 
ROUSSEAU 

Biographical Sketch. — Rousseau, one of the most 

interesting as well as influential personalities in history, 
was born at Geneva, Switzerland, in 1712. His mother 
died while he was still quite young, and his f ather^s in- 
fluence increased the naturally sentimental temperament 
of the boy. He was very carelessly educated in child- 
hood, later was apprenticed to an engraver, and at six- 
teen became a tramp. His wanderings during the period 
of vagrancy that followed gave him an ardent love of 
nature, and an intense sympathy with the oppressed, 
poverty-stricken peasants. By a mere circumstance he 
attached himself to the family of a divorced woman a 
few years older than himself, and for ten years he de- 
pended mostly upon her for support. During this time 
his life was dissolute and sensual. Later he lived in 
much the same style at Paris. He was finally married 
to a woman with whom he had already lived for many 
years ; but his children he turned over to a foundling 
home, losing all connection with them. From this 
account it will be seen that he was entirely irresponsible 
in character. But he was a brilliant writer in three 
separate fields, fiction, political theory, and education. 

22 



ROUSSEAU 



23 



It is, of course, his educational writings with which we 
are concerned in this book. 

The Social Situation. — The French Revolution 
broke out in 1789, soon after the close of our own 
Revolutionary War. Rousseau published his great 
educational work, ^' The Emile " (A-meel'); in 1762, 
thirteen years before 
the battle of Lexing- 
ton and twenty-seven 
years before the storm- 
ing of the Bastille. It 
was one of the causal 
factors in the great rev- 
olutionary upheavals 
of that time. The key 
to an understanding 
of that remarkable 
book is a clear idea of 
the social and political 
conditions in France 
at the period when it 
was written. Rous- 
seau's aim was to reform the abuses of the time. 
French society was very unnaturally, and therefore 
very unjustly, organized. Practically all the land was 
owned by a very small percentage of the population, 
i.e. by the church and a few noblemen. The nobles, 
the clergy, and the king with his courtiers maintained 
an expensive, wasteful government, and hved in the 




Jean Jacques Rousseau 



24 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

most extravagant and senseless luxury. They were 
supported by the rent of the land; and by rich incomes 
from government positions, the duties of which were 
usually merely nominal. The masses of the common 
people, on the other hand, paid both the rent and the 
taxes. Hence they were poverty stricken and ground 
down almost beyond imagination. 

These social conditions produced an unnatural life 
for everybody. Appointments to government posi- 
tions were secured chiefly through social favoritism ; 
hence there swarmed about the court a crowd of am- 
bitious idlers, competing for the favor of those in 
authority. This court society was regulated by an 
elaborate and artificial system of etiquette, in which 
it was of supreme importance to be strictly versed, 
since the prizes depended upon social graces rather 
than upon any sort of practical efficiency. And as 
one's prestige depended upon the appearance of leisure 
and luxury he could maintain, there was consequently 
an aristocratic contempt for all useful work. While, 
therefore, the nobility owned the land, they paid no 
attention to agriculture, and most of them were chron- 
ically in debt. They lived an aimless round of sport 
and social pleasures. The home with them became a 
broken-down institution. It was quite usual for hus- 
band and wife to live apart and for children to regard 
their parents as strangers. As an inevitable result of 
all this, life was hollow, barren, and utterly unwhole- 
some. The existence of the French aristocrat of this 



ROUSSEAU 25 

period is an extreme example of the rule that unjust priv- 
ilege eventually spoils life for the privileged class itself. 

As for the poor, their degradation was extreme. 
Unnaturalness in their lives took on all the forms of 
privation and suffering. It was his pity for their 
misery and oppressions that first inspired Rousseau 
to his life work. 

Society was organized somewhat on the French 
model all over Europe ; though in some countries, 
notably in England, social injustice was not so ex- 
treme, and nowhere were personal relations quite so 
artificial, though French fashion and etiquette were 
copied everywhere, even in America. Hence Rous- 
seau's message was almost as influential in other parts 
of Europe and in America as it was in France. 

The Unnatural Education of the Period. — The 
education of the period preceding the French Revolu- 
tion corresponded to the social system. The common 
people got practically no instruction at all. Prussia 
and New England were two exceptions. In Prussia, 
this was due to ^^ benevolent despots," who established 
a system of public elementary schools during the eight- 
eenth century ; in New England, as we have seen, edu- 
cation was fostered by a democratic religion. England, 
during the eighteenth century, educated only a fraction 
of her common people, and these in schools conducted 
by philanthropic societies. Everywhere else education 
for the most part was reserved for the privileged and 
professional classes. We have seen what sort of edu- 



26 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 




Active. Passive. Neuter. 



cation these classes received in America ; it was of 
the same sort in Europe. It was traditional, calcu- 
VERBS. lated to turn men's 

minds to the past. 
Practical interests of 
the day were for the 
most part excluded ; 
not so much by the 
intention of rulers as 
by the weight of tra- 
dition and the lack 
of organized mate- 
rials reflecting the 
problems of every- 
day life. Neverthe- 
less that suited the 
intent of rulers, since 
it tended to keep 
things as they were. 
It was disciplinary 
and memoriter; cal- 
culated to train men 
in obedience, but not 
to think for them- 
selves. 

In France the case 

Eighteenth Century Childhood. The ^g^g fj^j. worSC than 
upper picture is from The Little Gram- 

manan, published in Boston in 1819; the that. There profcs- 

lower one is an early eighteenth century . , , . , , 

fashion plate. sional educatiou had 




ROUSSEAU 27 

largely given place to a mere training in etiquette, de- 
signed to prepare the candidate to take his place in the 
extremely artificial, and therefore demoralizing, social 
life which centered around the court. The accompany- 
ing picture shows how little children were dressed and 
treated as grown-ups. In this connection Parker very 
aptly quotes Taine as follows : 

*'Even in the last years of the ancient regime (down to 
1783) little boys have their hair powdered, 'a pomatumed 
chignon (bourse), ringlets, and curls' ; they wear the sword, 
the chapeau under the arm, a frill, and a coat with gilded 
cuffs ; they kiss young ladies' hands with the air of little 
dandies. A lass of six years is bound up in a whalebone 
waist; her large hoop-petticoat supports a skirt covered 
with wreaths, she wears on her head a skilful combination 
of false curls, puffs, and knots, fastened with pins, and 
crowned with plumes, and so high that frequently Hhe 
chin is half way down to her feet ' ; sometimes they put 
rouge on her face. She is a miniature lady and she knows 
it ; she is fully up to her part, without effort or inconvenience, 
by force of habit ; the unique, the perpetual instruction she 
gets is on her deportment : it may be said with truth that 
the fulcrum of education in this country is the dancing- 
master. They could get along with him without any others ; 
without him the others were of no use. For, without him, 
how could people go through easily, suitably, and gracefully 
the thousand and one actions of daily life, walking, sitting 
down, standing up, offering the arm, using the fan, listening 
and smiling, before eyes so experienced and before such a 
refined public ? This is to be the great thing for them when 
they become men and women, and for this reason it is the 
thing of chief importance for them as children." 



28 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

All this not only moulded children to take their 
places in a formal, caste-ridden society that so sadly 
needed changing, but it was also extremely depressing, 



A Typical Eighteenth Century Schoolroom 

not to say cruel, to childhood, because it was all so 
extremely unnatural. And this applies quite as much 
to the formal discipline of the classical schools, with 



ROUSSEAU 29 

their rigid compulsion, as to the regimen in etiquette 
to which Httle aristocrats were subjected. 

Rousseau's Aim. — The whole aim of Rousseau's 
work was to reform, indeed to revolutionize, this 
unnatural and unjust regime. Naturalism was the 
keynote of all he wrote ; and, due to the unnatural 
conditions of French society at the time, this message 
went straight to the heart of the French people, with 
whom he was accordingly immensely popular. The 
political system he attacked in his '' Social Contract,' ' 
which exerted an influence in fomenting the French 
Revolution quite analogous to that of '^ Uncle Tom_'s 
Cabin " in the anti-slavery agitation prior to our 
own Civil War. Its ideas appear in the first sentences 
of our Declaration of Independence. His " Emile '' 
struck at the unnatural education by which each 
rising generation was trained to the unnatural order 
of things. He must have felt that the whole system 
would collapse if a single generation could only be 
reared to a natural life. 

The ^^Emile."— The " Emile " is in five parts. 
Part one describes the education of Emile up to five 
years of age ; part two, from five to twelve ; part 
three, from twelve to fifteen ; part four, from fifteen 
to twenty ; while part five deals with the education 
of the woman who is to become Emile's wife. The 
book begins with these words : " Everything is good 
as it comes from the hands of the Author of Nature ; 
but everything degenerates in the hands of man.'' 



30 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

This has often been referred to as the keynote to 
Rousseau's philosophy. It would perhaps be nearer 
the truth to say that the keynote is, ^' Back to nature/^ 
or, '^ Let nature be the guide in the education of the 
child, especially the child's own inner nature." Rous- 
seau would give the child unstinted contact with 
nature, and permit him to do spontaneously whatever 
his own nature prompts him to do. He would afford 
the young child abundant opportunity for observation 
and for muscular activity. He would stimulate the 
child's curiosity, encourage him to discover for himself 
what would satisfy him, and permit him to construct 
such things as his fancy suggested. " At the age of 
twelve Emile will hardly know what a book is." He 
objected to all attempts to coerce the child's attention ; 
he protested against having children memorize things 
they have no interest in ; he would have Emile learn 
from his own experiences what is right and what is 
wTong. He objected to religious instruction before 
adolescence ; and then it was to be in the form of 
contact with nature, not sectarian training. Above 
all things he hated the social conventionalities of his 
times. His reaction against these, together wdth his 
own sentimentality, sometimes led him to absurd 
extremes. Emile is to be bothered with neither medi- 
cine nor doctors. " The only habit which the child 
sliould be allowed to form is to contract no habit 
whatsoever." By scanty clothing Emile is to be 
hardened to heat and cold. Let him learn by natural 



ROUSSEAU 31 

consequences ; if he lies, pretend not to believe him ; 
if he pulls up the gardener's plants, let the gardener 
pull up his. As he grows older let him fall into the 
hands of sharpers, and suffer the consequences. But 
perhaps the most absurd of all his theories was that 
children up to the age of twelve should be kept so 
far as possible away from all social contacts. 

Rousseau's ideas of the education of women appear 
to have been entirely colored by his own times and 
character. He wrote : ^^ The whole education of 
women ought to be relative to men. To please them, 
to be useful to them, to make themselves loved and 
honored by them, to educate them when young, to 
care for them when grown, to counsel them, to con- 
sole them, to make life agreeable and sweet to them 
— these are the duties of women at all times, and 
what should be taught them from infancy." 

Naturalism the Keynote of Rousseau's Message. — 
It is a little puzzling to understand how such a strange 
mixture of sense and absurdity could exert so profound 
an influence upon education, and, through education, 
upon society at large ; especially when advocated by 
a person who, by exemplifying the principles of his 
own teachings, repudiated all the essential responsi- 
bilities of civilized society. The absurdity is reduced, 
however, as soon as we recognize clearly the ambiguity 
of Rousseau himself. He was not clear as to what he 
meant by nature ; whether the outside world, or the 
instinctive tendencies of the child's inner nature. 



32 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

The fact is Rousseau himself ^^ saw men as trees walk- 
ing/' It was as if he did not quite succeed in saying 
what he was trying to say. Those who came after 
him saw what it was. Interpreted by them his nat- 
uralism meant bringing education back to the nature 
of the child. Thus clarified; his fundamental prin- 
ciple was this : Education should he adapted to the 
instinctive needs of the child at the various stages of the 
child's development. This was the core of Rousseau's 
contribution. But there was still another reason for 
Rousseau's ambiguities. He did not understand chil- 
dren. He had no practical knowledge of what the 
different stages of their development really are, nor 
what sort of treatment really is adapted to their needs 
at those various ages. Hence most of his specific 
advice was absurd. Nevertheless it was something 
to have suggested that the child is a developing crea- 
ture and should be treated accordingly, even though 
the second anointment came to the eyes of his followers, 
but never to his. 

Basedow (Bah'ze-do) was the first to attempt the 
actual conduct of schools according to Rousseau's 
theories. For a few years following 1771 he con- 
ducted a model school, which he called a Philan- 
thropinum, at Dessau ; but he was neither tempera- 
mentally nor intellectually adapted to the task. This 
institution, and others like it in Germany, became the 
fad of the hour, but they made no permanent contri- 
bution to education. When Rousseau died in 1778 



ROUSSEAU 33 

nothing had as yet been done to extract his funda- 
mental principles from the vagueness and ambiguity 
in which he expressed them, and to apply them to 
actual practice. 

Rousseau's Disciples. — Rousseau's influence was 
transmitted principally through the work of Pesta- 
lozzi, Herbart; and Froebel. These three great re- 
formers were all, as we shall see, disciples of Rousseau. 
They reduced his nebulous theories to definite prin- 
ciples, corrected, or rather contradicted, some of his 
worst absurdities (such as the theory that children 
should be reared in isolation), and showed how to 
make practical application of his positive suggestions. 
These men will be studied in due season. The student 
must bear constantly in mind their dependence upon 
Rousseau, otherwise the latter's contribution will not 
be appreciated. 

Dewey Quotes Rousseau. — One of the most popular 
and influential books in the field of education that has 
appeared in ten years is ^^ Schools of To-morrow,'' by 
John Dewey and his daughter Evelyn. The following 
quotations from Rousseau are transcribed from the 
first chapter of Dewey's book. (See pp. 268 ff.) 

*'A man must indeed know many things which seem 
useless to a child. Must the child learn, can he learn, all 
that the man must know ? Try to teach a child what is of 
use to him as a child, and you will find that it takes all his 
time. Why urge him to the studies of an age he may never 
reach, to the neglect of those studies which meet his present 



34 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

needs? But, you ask, will it not be too late to learn what 
he ought to know when the time comes to use it? I cannot 
tell. But this I know; it is impossible to teach it sooner, 
for our real teachers are experience and emotion, and adult 
man will never learn what befits him except under, his own 
conditions. A child knows he must become a man ; all 
the ideas he may have as to man's estate are so many oppor- 
tunities for his instruction, but he should remain in complete 
ignorance of those ideas that are beyond his grasp. My 
whole book is one continued argument in support of this 
fundamental principle of education." 

''The greatest, the most important, the most useful rule 
of education is : Do not save time, but lose it. If the 
infant sprang at one bound from its mother's breast to the 
age of reason, the present education would be quite suitable ; 
but its natural growth calls for quite a different training." 

''The whole of our present method is cruel, for it con- 
sists in sacrificing the present to the remote and uncertain 
future. I hear from afar the shouts of the false wisdom 
that is ever dragging us on, counting the present as nothing, 
and breathlessly pursuing a future that flies as we pursue ; 
a false wisdom that takes us away from the only place we 
ever have and never takes us anywhere else." 

"Hold childhood in reverence, and do not be in an}^ 
hurry to judge it for good or ill. Give nature time to work 
before you take upon yourself her business, lest you interfere 
with her dealings. You assert that you know the value of 
time and are afraid to waste it. You fail to perceive that 
it is a greater waste of time to use it ill than to do nothing, 
and that a child ill taught is further from excellence than a 
child who has learned nothing at all. You are afraid to see 
him spending his early j^ears doing nothing. What ! Is it 
nothing to be happy, nothing to jump and run all day? He 
will never be so busy again all his life long. What would 



ROUSSEAU 35 

you think of a man who refused to sleep lest he should waste 
part of his life?" 

''Nature would have children be children before they 
are men. If we try to invert this order we shall produce 
a forced fruit, immature and flavorless, fruit that rots before 
it can ripen. Childhood has its own ways of thinking,. see- 
ing, and feeling." 

''Physical exercise teaches us to use our strength, to 
perceive the relation between our own and neighboring 
bodies, to use natural tools which are within our reach and 
adapted to our senses. At eighteen we are taught in our 
schools the use of the lever; every village boy of twelve 
knows how to use a lever better than the cleverest mechani- 
cian in the academy. The lessons the scholars give one 
another on the playground are worth a hundredfold more 
than what they learn in the classroom. Watch a cat when 
she first comes into a room. She goes from place to place ; 
she sniffs about and examines everything. She is not still 
for a moment. It is the same with a child when he begins 
to walk and enters, as it were, the room of the world about 
him. Both use sight, and the child uses his hands as the 
cat her nose." 

"Before you can get an art, you must first get your 
tools ; and if you are to make good use of your tools, they 
must be fashioned sufficiently strong to stand use. To 
learn to think, we must accordingly exercise our limbs, our 
senses, and our bodily organs, for these are the tools of in- 
tellect. To get the best use of these tools, the body that 
supplies us with these tools must be kept strong and healthy. 
Not only is it a mistake that true reason is developed apart 
from the body, but it is a good bodily constitution that 
makes the workings of the mind easy and correct." 

"The first meaningless phrase, the first thing taken for 
granted on the authority of another without, the pupil's 



36 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

seeing its meaning for himself, is the beginning of the ruin 
of judgment." ''What would you have him think about, 
when you do all the thinking for him?" ''You then com- 
plete the task of discrediting reason in his mind by making 
him use such reason as he has upon the things which seem 
of the least use to him." 

These quotations will give the student a vivid notion 
of Rousseau's ideas and style of expression ; they also 
show the vitality and present influence of Rousseau's 
theories, and they reveal, in the third place, the kinship 
between Rousseau and the tendency in contemporary 
pedagogy of which John Dewey is the chief spokesman. 

Rousseau the Mouthpiece of Democracy. — Rous- 
seau's theories had no very immediate effect upon 
educational practice. But in the long run their in- 
fluence has been immense, indeed, quite revolutionary. 
Gradually, ever since Rousseau's time, education has 
been adapted more and more to the natural needs of 
the child. Perhaps it could hardly be contended that 
this more natural education was the cause that produced 
a more natural, just, and democratic organization of 
society ; but certainly such an education is necessary 
to the perpetuation of such a society now that we have 
it. If the ^^ Emile " did not overthrow the old 
regime and create democracy, at least it has greatly 
helped the new democracy to learn that it cannot 
succeed unless it gives every child an education suited 
to his nature. It is possible, however, to overestimate 
the mere personal influence of Rousseau himself. He 



ROUSSEAU 37 

was, so to speak, the mouthpiece of his times. He 
expressed what all people were coming to feel, because 
of the rising demand the world over for democracy. 
It is quite conceivable, indeed quite probable, that 
the growing democracy of the nineteenth century 
would have brought about many of the changes that 
have occurred had there been no Rousseau. Still the 
fact remains that Rousseau exerted an immense in- 
fluence upon the growth of that democracy itself. 



CHAPTER III 
THE PERIOD OF NATIONALIZATION, 1776-1835 

Educational Ideals of the Early Statesmen. — The 

statesmen that directed the affairs of our country 
during its formative period were well aware that 
popular education was necessary to the success of the 
republic they had established. Before the Revolu- 
tionary War Franklin's lively interest in educational 
progress had helped to lay the foundations of what is 
now the University of Pennsylvania. Washington 
wrote in 1790 : " Knowledge is in every country the 
surest basis of public happiness. In one in which the 
measures of government receive their impression so 
immediately as in ours^ from the sense of the com- 
munity, it is proportionally essential." James Madison 
also wrote : ^^ A popular government without popular 
information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a pro- 
logue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both." " The 
best service that can be rendered to a country, next to 
giving it liberty, is in diffusing the mental improve- 
ment equally essential to the preservation and enjoy- 
ment of that blessing." About the same time Jefferson 
wrote: '^ It is an' axiom in my mind that our liberty 
can never be safe but in the hands of the people them- 

38 



THE PERIOD OF NATIONALIZATION, 1776-1835 39 

selves, and that, too, of the people with a certain degree 
of instruction. This is the business of the state to 
effect, and on a general plan." Jefferson drafted a 
system of universal public education, modeled after 
Plato's plan, and tried to get it adopted in Virginia. 
Graves describes Jefferson's plan as follows : 

''His bill proposed to lay off all the counties into small 
districts five or six miles square, to be called 'hundreds.' 
Each hundred was to establish at its own expense an ele- 
mentary school, to which every citizen should be entitled 
to send his children free for three years, and for as much 
longer as he would pay. The leading pupil in each school 
was to be selected annually by a school visitor and sent to 
one of the twenty 'grammar' [i.e. secondary] schools, which 
were to be erected in various parts of the state. After a 
trial of two years had been made of these boys, the leader 
in each grammar school was to be selected and given a com- 
plete secondary course of six years, and the rest dismissed. 
At the end of this six-year course, the lower half of the 
geniuses thus determined were to be retained as teachers 
in the grammar school, while the upper half were to be sup- 
ported from the public treasury for three years at the College 
of William and Mary which was to be greatly expanded in 
control and scope." 

The student should remember that Jefferson's system 
never existed anywhere except on paper. It illustrates, 
however, the educational insight of the political leaders. 
These leaders clearly saw that, if the people are to con- 
trol the government by their votes, they must at least 
be able to read, so that they can inform themselves 



40 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

on the subjects they have to vote about. This, it will 
be observed, was quite different from the religious 
motives that had induced the early New Englanders 
to found schools. The idea that a self-governing people 
must not be illiterate produced remarkable results in 
the generation immediately following the Revolution. 

The Educational Transition. — From the Revolu- 
tionary War to 1835 was a period of remarkable change 
in education. At the beginning of the period schools 
were of the colonial type, practically the same, except 
for the partial change from church to state support 
and control in New England, as had been imported 
originally from England. But by the close of the 
period a system of typically American schools had 
been established, or at least was getting well started, 
in all the northern states. By a typically American 
system we mean, of course, elementary schools, con- 
trolled by the state, supported by taxes, and free to all 
children. A sentiment in favor of education " was so 
general that the memorable saying of Chancellor Kent, 
that ^ the parent who sends his son into the world 
uneducated defrauds the community of a youthful 
citizen, and bequeaths to it a nuisance,' was not more 
personal opinion than a widespread public faith." It 
was to bear fruit in the next period. 

The New Nationalism. — This remarkable transition 
in education was one of the fruits of the new nationalism 
that characterized the period. Our young republic 
had got securely on her own feet as an independent 



THE PERIOD OF NATIONALIZATION, 1776-1835 41 

nation. She had fought and won the War of Inde- 
pendence, and achieved a permanent union of the 
states. The War of 1812 estabhshed her sovereignty 
beyond question. The Monroe Doctrine was pro- 
mulgated ; henceforth all the world knew that the 
United States was to be counted among the family of 
nations. That fact reacted upon the national con- 
sciousness of the American people themselves. It was 
a time also of rapid western expansion'; Florida and 
the Louisiana purchase increased our area to five times 
that of the original thirteen colonies. Population 
trebled. Millions of pioneers crossed the mountains ; 
by the end of the period settlement had extended to the 
Mississippi, and somewhat beyond. This expansion 
helped to create the impression in the minds of Ameri- 
cans that their nation was destined to become really 
great. The West developed democratic ideas that 
reacted upon the East, gradually removing property 
qualifications for voting. This change naturally em- 
phasized the importance of educational qualifications. 
Manufacturing and commerce increased by leaps and 
bounds after the War of 1812, so that America ceased 
to be dependent upon Europe for shipping and for 
finished products. Internal improvements developed 
rapidly ; by 1830 there were twenty-five canals. Wash- 
ington Irving gave American authorship a recognized 
place in the literature of the English language. There 
occurred also a marked quickening in religious life ; 
certain types of religious expression peculiar to America 



42 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

were developed ; the pioneer West was evangelized, 
and foreign missions were begun. 

The New School System. — Thus in all phases of 
her life America was developing independence. Among 
the distinctively American institutions of which the 
foundations were laid in this period perhaps the most 
important was the American school. The process was 
a slow one, in the course of which there were many un- 
American experiments and much blind discussion, 
varying in different parts of the country. The goal 
was approached by a meandering, rather than by a 
straight, line. For that reason the details of the history 
are confusing to the student now. But the details 
will all fall into line if the student will remember that 
there was really emerging out of apparent chaos a 
system of free public schools, suitable to the aims and 
ideals of the new nation. It is the task of this chapter 
to trace that development through a study of typical 
cases. 

The Rise of a Free School System in New York State. 
— New P]ngland inherited from colonial times, as we 
have seen, a state system of public schools of the type 
that we now recognize as characteristically American. 
So far as the organization of schools was concerned 
(i.e. the arrangements by which the government con- 
trolled and supported them) she had no important 
changes to make. During this period the district 
system, which previously had been a matter of custom 
only, was sanctioned and stabilized by law. She also 



THE PERIOD OF NATIONALIZATION, 1776-1835 43 

made some improvement in the quality of her schools, 
but that will be described later. 

It was the New England system that gradually 
spread to other parts of the country. Naturally it 
took root in the states where New Englanders had 
settled. This was true of certain parts of New York 
state (outside of New York City) ; and so it is there 
that we first find the New England system appearing. 
Immediately after the Revolution, before 1800, New 
York set apart both land and money to create a state 
fund for the aid of elementary education. These funds 
were distributed to townships upon condition that 
they raise funds by local taxation for the support of 
their schools. This was the first instance of state aid ; 
and thus was set a very important precedent. The 
townships gradually responded to the offer. By 1820 
local taxes and state aid for the support of schools had 
become quite common in rural New York. The rate= 
bills (cf. p. 6) still remained, however. 

In New York City. — New York City entered the 
period of Nationalization under the handicap of Euro- 
pean ideals and customs. She had imported the 
aristocratic type of school organization (see pp. 
2, 9), whereby those members of society who could 
afford to do so provided education for their own 
children, while the children of the poor remained igno- 
rant. Education of the poor on a charity basis was the 
logical corollary of this system. England during the 
eighteenth century had utilized private philanthropic 



44 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

societies for the extension of education to the poor. 
The most conspicuous of these were the Society for the 
Promotion of Christian Knowledge (commonly referred 
to as the " S. P. C. K.") and the Society for the 
Propagation of the Gospel (" S. P. G.")- 

New York City had been the special victim of the 
missionary activity of the '^ S. P. G." New York thus 
acquired the idea of financing and administering edu- 
cation on a charity basis ; so when some leading citizens 
began to realize the necessity for educating the neg- 
lected poor in New York City, they attacked the 
problem by organizing, after the British model, the 
Free School Society. That w^as in 1805. The business 
of the Society was to solicit funds and use them to 
conduct charity schools for boys who could not afford 
to pay tuitions. Besides gifts from private individuals, 
the Society solicited and received contributions from 
both the city and the state governments. In 1828 the 
Society received some funds from local taxes also. At 
one time it charged tuitions, but this was presently 
abandoned. The peculiar feature of this arrangement 
should be carefully noted : funds derived from state 
grants and local taxes, together with the responsibility 
for conducting schools, were turned over to a private 
philanthropic organization, which depended in part 
upon subscriptions also. 

This " charity " plan of organizing schools was en- 
tirely un-American in spirit and method. Its abolition 
came about in this way. First the Baptist Church and 



THE PERIOD OF NATIONALIZATION, 1776-1835 45 

then the Roman CathoHc Church made a plea for state 
appropriations for their schools on the ground that 
they had an equal claim upon them with the Society. 
A hot debate followed, in which the churches partici- 
pated. The matter was finally settled by the legisla- 
ture in 1842 — we may as well tell it here, though it 
did not happen till after the close of this period — by 
creating a city board of education and refusing further 
funds to either Society or churches. In this way New 
York City was belated in the establishment of a truly 
American system of public schools. Indeed; she has 
never entirely recovered from the handicap, as much 
of her elementary education to this day is on a private 
basis. Societies like the Free School Society were by 
no means uncommon throughout the country during 
the period of Nationalization. 

In Pennsylvania. — It seems as if the farther south 
we go the more deeply rooted was the idea that edu- 
cation, except for the well to do, was a charity. In 
Pennsylvania and all the states to the south there ex- 
isted an institution known as the pauper-school. This 
institution had been in use before the Revolution, and 
it persisted throughout the entire period under dis- 
cussion. The Pennsylvania law of 1802 was typical. 
This law authorized the overseers of the poor to pay the 
tuition in some private school of children whose parents 
would declare themselves to be paupers. Funds for 
this purpose were assessed, levied, and collected in the 
same way as other taxes for poor relief. This put edu- 



46 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

cation upon the basis of a public charity, which was 
even more degrading than the private charity plan of 
New York City. The arrangement was unsatisfactory 
to all concerned. The rich objected to associating 
with paupers ; the poor, resenting the humiliation, 
preferred their children to grow up in ilKteracy ; 
and an utterly undemocratic theory of education was 
inculcated. 

The more progressive leaders discerned the need of 
something better. Accordingly in 1814 " The Society 
for the Promotion of a Rational System of Education " 
was organized in Philadelphia. It was typical of m.any 
societies organized during the period for purposes of 
educational propaganda. As a result of its efforts a 
law was enacted by the state legislature in 1818 which 
permitted Philadelphia to organize itself as a school 
district for the purpose of providing public schools. A 
little later four other cities secured similar privileges. 
The remainder of the state retained the pauper-school 
system for many years. 

In 1834 Pennsylvania passed a law that for her was 
epoch-making, although it was similar to the plan that 
New York state had had in operation for a generation. 
By this law a state fund was created to be distributed 
to such local communities as would organize themselves 
as school districts and support their schools by local 
taxes. Strange as it may seem to us now there was a 
great deal of opposition to this arrangement. The 
Quakers and the ^^ Pennsylvania Dutch " opposed it 



THE PERIOD OF NATIONALIZATION, 1776-1835 47 

because they foresaw that their parochial schools would 
be replaced. The wealthy classes opposed it^ arguing 
that it was undemocratic to tax them for the schooling 
of other people's children. Northern Pennsylvania, 
which was settled mostly by New Englanders, readily 
adopted the new plan, but the older portions of the 
state were very slow in accepting it. It did not be- 
come universal till toward the close of the next period, 
and will accordingly be referred to again in a later 
chapter (pp. 138 ff.). 

In the South. — Virginia, which may be taken as 
typical of the whole South, was even more devoted to 
the charity theory of education than were the New 
Yorkers and the Pennsylvanians. If Jefferson could 
have had his way a fairly effective system would have 
been launched from the start. But all that came of his 
efforts was a permissive law by which the justices of 
each county were permitted to initiate a system of 
schools supported by taxation. As a rule there were 
no more confirmed aristocrats in the country than 
the justices ; as a matter of course, they were 
quite indifferent to public education, and, accord- 
ingly, nothing whatsoever came out of the permissive 
law. 

In addition to the time-honored private schools of 
the wealthy, and occasional denominational schools, 
so-called field schools were not uncommon during the 
period under discussion. They were part and parcel of 
the old colonial system of education under family 



48 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

auspices, being maintained by several neighboring 
families in cooperation. They were supported by 
tuition, or, hke churches, by subscriptions. These 
schools were supplemented by pauper-schools. After 
1818 a state fund existed in Virginia to supplement 
county support of pauper-schools, thus putting edu- 
cation strictly on the un-American basis of a public 
charity. On this basis it continued not only during 
this period, but for most of the next as well. 

In the West. — As the Northwest Territory was 
settled, people brought with them the notions of edu- 
cation they had been familiar with at home. Conse- 
quently each and every one of the plans discussed above 
and in Chapter I was transplanted into this new terri- 
tory, there to struggle for existence with all the others. 
In general, Michigan and the northern parts of Ohio, 
Indiana, and Illinois were settled by New Englanders 
and New Yorkers. The southern parts of Ohio, 
Indiana, -and Illinois, together with Kentucky, were 
settled by Virginians. Pioneers from the Middle 
States were generously sprinkled throughout the region. 
Michigan, having the largest proportion of New 
Englanders, was the first of these new states to es- 
tablish a public school system ; the other states lagged, 
and even by the close of this period (1835) the New 
England system had by no means won a final victory. 
Even when it did it carried the degenerate district unit. 
In the course of the long struggle, and the slow 
education of public opinion, many strange things 



THE PERIOD OF NATIONALIZATION, 1776-1835 49 

occurred. At one time Indiana passed a law providing 
that ^' no person should be liable for a tax who does not, 
or does not wish to, participate in the benefit of the 
school fund." One member of the General Assembly 
orated as follows : ^' When I die, I want my epitaph 
written : ^ Here lies an enemy of free schools.^ '^ 

The Tragedy of Blindness to the Signs of the Times. 
— It is interesting to note how blind most of the people 
and many of the leaders of this period were to the 
tendency of the times ; and how utterly unable they 
were to understand the needs of democracy, or to 
foresee what it was predestined to bring forth. As we 
look back now it is hard for us to understand or excuse 
that blindness. And yet there is much similar blind- 
ness to-day relative to the present problems of educa- 
tion. One reason why teachers should study the 
history of education is, that they, at least, may be 
able to see clearly what the present tendencies in edu- 
cational development are really pointing toward. 

The reader must have observed how reluctant 
legislatures and popular majorities were to coerce 
the unwilling. The Pennsylvania law of 1834 is a 
case in point ; others were mentioned. Our fathers 
certainly established a precedent in favor of educa- 
tional progress by agitation and persuasion instead of 
mandatory legislation. In such matters as attendance, 
building and equipment, consolidation, medical in- 
spection, etc., may we not in our day do better to make 
use of such mandatory laws as educational leaders 



50 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

can induce legislatures and popular majorities to 
enact ? 

Textbooks and Methods. — The narrow curriculum 
and wasteful methods described in Chapter I carried 
over into the Period of Nationalization ; but during 
that period many changes were made for the better. 
Webster's Spelhng Book, entitled the ^^ Institutes, of 
the English Language/' but popularly known for more 
than a century as the ^^ Blue-backed Speller/' — ap- 
peared immediately after the Revolution. It replaced 
the old primers, and was universally used for many 
years. The speller contained long lists of words like 
the five short lists in the New England Primer, but 
they were interspersed with reading matter. The re- 
ligious matter of the primer was replaced by a variety 
of material, and a m5ral catechism took the place of 
the Westminster Catechism. This widely used book 
contributed materially to the standardization of English 
spelling ; before, indeed, one could take one's choice 
as to the spelling of w^ords. Spelling was perhaps 
the most important exercise in the lower schools, and 
spelling matches became popular social gatherings, — 
the great events of the villages and rural life. This 
interest in spelling continued throughout the century. 

Other subjects also developed largely through the 
influence of popular textbooks. Pike's Elementary 
Arithmetic appeared in 1793, and was extensively used. 
Morse's Geography was published about the same time. 
It was very different from a modern geography, how- 



THE PERIOD OF NATIONALIZATION, 1776-1835 51 

ever, containing much historical material. The edition 
of 1788, for example, presented a short '^ account of 
the transactions of the United States, after the Revolu- 
tion," written by Noah Webster. In the schools the 
text in geography was used much as we use the readers 
to-day. Warren Colburn's First Lessons in Arithmetic 
on the Plan of Pestalozzi (see Chap. IV) was published 
in 1821. Colburn in the first part of this book em- 
phasized Pestalozzi's idea of imparting number ideas 
to children by the use of objects which they could 
count. After that the pupil practiced mental compu- 
tation, without the use of figures. Later he was intro- 
duced to the manipulation of figures. Parker ranks this 
book with the New England Primer and Webster's 
Spelling Book in importance ; its influence, however, 
did not begin until near the close of the period under 
discussion. Notwithstanding the introduction of these 
new textbooks, the elementary curriculum remained 
very narrow. It consisted almost entirely of " the 
three R's " (readin', 'ritin', and 'rithmetic). Geog- 
raphy, history, and grammar did not appear as sub- 
jects in most of the schools until after 1835. 

Children were taught to read in " the good old-fash- 
ioned way." The little children were called up to the 
teacher one by one. The teacher held the book on his 
knee, upside down, so it would be right side up to the 
child. Then he pointed out the letters to the pupil, 
the capitals first, naming them. Next he reviewed, 
by pointing to a letter he had named before, saying : 



52 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

'^ What's that? " If the pupil guessed right, well and 
good ; if not he was told again. In this way some 
children '^ learned their letters " in two or three weeks ; 
others worked all summer on them and then did not 
know them. After most of the letters had been learned 
the child was taught to spell out and recognize short 
words. Finally short sentences were introduced, as 
'^ The cat sees the dog " ; '^ The dog can see the cat/' 
etc. This utterly unpsychological method continued 
in use till almost the close of the last century, and is 
employed in backward places to this day. 

The following report of the visiting committee of 
the Massachusetts town of Taunton gives a vivid 
picture of the schools of the period. It is taken from 
Judd's " The Scientific Study of Education," and he 
quotes it from a recent report of the superintendent of 
the Taunton schools. Judd comments that the terms 
must have been shorter, the teaching poorer, and the 
supervision less in more rural towns. 

*'The committee chosen by the town to inspect the schools 
beg leave to report their situation and examination. 

''January 6th, 1801. Your committee visited a school 
kept in Rueben Richmond's house instructed by Mrs. 
Nabby Williams of 32 scholars. This school appeared in 
an uncultivated state the greater part of the scholars. 

*'0n the 26 of Feb., visited Mrs. Nabby Williams' school 
the second time and found that the scholars had made great 
proficiency in reading, spelling, writing and some in the 
grammar of the English language. 

"Nov. 10th, the committee visited and examined two 



THE PERIOD OF NATIONALIZATION, 1776-1835 53 

Schools just opened ; one kept in a school house, near 
Bayhes works, of the number of 40 scholars, instructed by 
Mr. Philip Lee. This School we found to have made but 
small proficiency in reading, spelling and writing, and to 
be kept only six or seven weeks ; upon inquiry why it should 
be taught no longer, we were informed that the ratio of 
school money for this School was and had been usually 
expended in paying the Master both for his service and 
board, and in purchasing the fire wood which is contrary 
to the usual custom of the town. 

''The other School, visited the same day, was kept near 
John Reed's consisting of the number of between 30 and 40 
scholars instructed by Mr. WilUam Reed; This School, 
being formed into regular classes, appeared to have made 
a good and pleasing proficiency in reading, spelling and 
writing, some in arithmetic and others in the Grammar of 
the English language. This School's share of school money 
is expended to pay the Master for his service only, so that 
the School will be continued three months. 

"On the 8th day of December they visited a School 
kept in a School house near Seth Hodges, in number 30 
scholars instructed by Mr. John Dunbar. This School 
appeared in a good way of learning, and to be keep four 
months. 

"On the 22nd of December your Committee visited two 
more Schools just opened, one in a School house near Samuel 
Pett's of the number of 40 scholars instructed by Mr. Rufus 
Dean, and to be kept three months. This School appeared 
to be in a promising way of learning in reading, spelling and 
writing and to be regularly taught. 

"The other School is kept in the home of Mr. Paul Chase 
and taught by Mr. Nicolas Stephens, consisting of 30 
Scholars, and appears quite in a good way of learning es- 
pecially in Spelling for scarcely a word passed a scholar 



54 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

misspelled, in writing some did very well and others in 
arithmetic appeared attentive. 

''January 8th, 1801 visited two Schools for the first 
time, one in the home of Mr. William Hodges of the number 
of 37 Scholars, instructed by Mr. Lovet Tisdale, the other 
in the home of Mr. Daniel Burt, of the number of 25 Scholars, 
instructed by Mr. Benjamin Tubbs. These Schools appeared 
in good order and attentive to their learning. 

''Feby. 26th, visited Mr. Dean's School 2 time, the 
Scholars were crowded into a small room, the air was ex- 
ceedingly noxcious. Many children were obliged to tarry 
at home for want of room and though the school was kept 
only a few weeks they were deprived of its advantages. A 
want of books was the complaint. The committee were 
anxiously desirous that this evil might have a remedy and 
were of opinion it may be easily done. The Scholars ap- 
peared to increase in knowledge & claim our approbation. 

''March 5th, visited two schools, one kept at Mr. Aaron 
Pratt's of the number of 30 scholars instructed by Mr. 
Philip Drown. This school appeared quite unimproved 
and uncultivated in reading and spelling, some of them did 
better in writing. This uncultivated state did not appear 
to be from a fault in the children but, as your committee 
were informed, from the disadvantage of having had masters 
illegally qualified for their instruction ; of which class is 
their present master unauthorized by law." 

The Monitorial System. — The first reaction from 
the old, individual method of instruction came with the 
introduction of the Lancasterian, or Monitorial, system, 
from England, soon after the War of 1812. This 
system enabled one teacher to handle a large number 
of children at small expense, and seemed, therefore, a 



THE PERIOD OF NATIONALIZATION, 1776-1835 55 




A Monitorial School, with Three Hundred Pupils and but 
One Teacher 




Pupils Reciting to Monitors 




Monitor Inspecting Slates 



56 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

^' blessing from heaven.'' Parker states that Phila- 
delphia in 1819 had ten such schools, with one teacher 
in each, and an average of 284 pupils per teacher. Ac- 
cording to this system the details of schoolroom r.outine 
were reduced to military precision, the teacher himself 
taught the older pupils in the most formal fashion, 
and they, as " monitors," taught the younger pupils. 
This plan was in great favor for fifteen or twenty years ; 
but its inadequacy was eventually recognized, and it 
gave place to something better. But meantime it 
helped to habituate the taxpayers to a more liberal 
support of their schools. This influence is suggested 
in the following quotation from Governor Walcott's 
message to the Connecticut legislature in 1825. 

''If funds can be obtained to defray the expenses of the 
necessary preparations, I have no doubt that schools on 
the Lancastrian model ought, as soon as possible, to be 
established in several parts of this state. Wherever from 
200 to 1000 children can be convened within a suitable 
distance, this mode of instruction in every branch of read- 
ing, speaking, penmanship, arithmetic, and bookkeeping, will 
be found much more efficient, direct, and economical." ^ 

For the most part these Lancasterian schools were 
used only in the cities. Boston in 1800 was a city of 
25,000, New York of 60,000, and Philadelphia of 
70,000. At this time the annual expenditure for in- 
struction for each pupil must have been very small. 
No figures are known, but in 1822 the Free School 

1 Cubberley's "Public Education in the United States," p. 95. 



THE PERIOD OF NATIONALIZATION, 1776-1835 57 

Society spent on the average $1.37 for each pupil each 
year. But it soon became apparent that such schools 
were not good enough. The monitorial scheme was 
abandoned within a generation. 

The Primary School. — The dame school was in- 
herited from colonial times (see pp. 9, 10) . The practice 
was common, especially in the New England cities, of 
admitting to the public schools only children who had 
already learned to read. Dame schools accordingly were 
preparatory to the public and private schools. Many 
children were taught to read by their mothers. From 
this fact came the traditional custom of mothers teach- 
ing their children to read before sending them to school. 
Many middle-aged people now living were so taught ; 
and to this day some mothers assume the responsibility. 
^ About 1820; however, there was imported to this 
country the English '^ infant-school. '^ Beginning with 
Boston, a number of cities organized infant or primary 
schools, partly at public expense. Children were re- 
ceived at about four years of age, and were prepared 
for the ordinary schools. Eventually these infant- 
schools became a recognized part of the developing 
public school system, which thereupon consisted of the 
primary and intermediate, or ^^ grammar," schools. 
For years these two schools were held in separate build- 
ings. Thus was the first step taken in the direction of 
our present graded system. These new primary 
schools were taught by women ; a movement which 
greatly stimulated the more general employment of 



58 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

women as teachers. With the rise of primary schools 
the old-fashioned dame school passed away. 

Colleges. — Boone lists twenty-four colleges es- 
tablished before 1800, of which sixteen had been founded 
since 1776. Of the universities and colleges of the 
United States listed in the World Almanac some 
seventy-five were in existence in 1835. Doubtless many 
of them were mere academies at that early date. 

The curriculums ^ of the colleges were slowly modified 
during the Period of Nationalization. Before 1800 
chemistry had begun to be taught at the leading colleges 
in connection with medicine. By 1810 it had become a 
separate chair ; but the laboratories w^ere used only by 
the professors. Geology was introduced as a separate 
subject at Williams in 1825. Several primitive tele- 
scopes were installed before 1835. Eaton lectured on 
botany at Williams in 1810. Chairs for the study of 
the French and German languages w^ere established in 
most of the colleges prior to 1825, but no attention 
was given to their literatures. It must be remembered, 
however, that these were only beginnings ; the classics 
still dominated the collegiate programs. It is interest- 
ing to note that after the Revolution students at Yale 
were catalogued alphabetically, and not according to 
the social rank of their families, as formerly. The 
first Greek letter fraternity. Phi Beta Kappa, was 
founded at William and Mary College in 177(). 

^ The dictionaries all allow the English plural, and Webster's prefers 
it. This form seems more consistent with the educational ideals set 
forth in this book. 



THE PERIOD OF NATIONALIZATION, 1776-1835 59 

The Academies. — During this period a very signifi- 
cant change occurred in the character of the secondary, 
or college preparatory schools. The old Latin-grammar 
schools gave place to the academies. The first of these 
was founded in Philadelphia by Franklin in 1749. 
It later grew into the University of Pennsylvania. 
Some of the famous old academies, — Phillips Exeter 
in New Hampshire, Phillips Andover in Massachusetts, 
Bethlehem and Nazareth in Pennsylvania, and German- 
town Academy in Maryland, — appeared just before 
or just after the Revolution. By the close of the 
Nationalization Period there was a considerable number 
of these academies, though of course, they were by 
no means so numerous in proportion to the population 
as the modern high schools are now.^ 





To 1800 


1801-1820 


1821-1840 


1841-1860 


1861-1880 


Maine 


5 
10 


20 

18 


31 

59 


34 
23 


8 


New Hampshire 


25 


Vermont .... 


10 


24 


22 


10 


9 


Massachusetts 




17 


19 


78 


40 


15 a 


New York . 




19 


33 


176 


183 


123 6 


Maryland 




5 


24 


40 


23 




North Carolina 




30 


113 


43 c 






Georgia . . 




6 


14 


449 






Total . 


102 


265 


313 


180 



a closes with 1877. b closes with 1873. c closes with 1825. 



1 The above table from Dexter's " History of Education in the 
United States," p. 94, shows the number of new academies in a few 
typical states at different dates. It gives an idea of the growth and 
decline of this institution. 



60 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

The academies met two needs : Some of them were 
'^ fitting " schools, preparing boys for college. These 
were usually fairly well endowed institutions, and the 
towns in which they were located came to be regarded 
as educational centers. There were many academies, 
however, that were merely local, secondary schools, 
catering chiefly to those who never expected to go to 
college, and sometimes referred to as '^ finishing '^ 
schools. These were usually less pretentious institu- 
tions ; pupils entered at the age of nine or ten, the pro- 
gram of studies consisted of the common branches, 
and discipline was severe. Some academies offered 
both ^^ fitting " and " finishing " programs, usually 
through two curriculums, the classical and the Latin- 
scientific. The academies were private institutions, 
supported partly by tuitions, and partly by endow- 
ments and contributions. In some states, notably 
Massachusetts, the state granted lands to the acad- 
emies, thus tacitly recognizing them as a part of the 
public-school system. This policy may have post- 
poned somewhat the rise of the public high school. 
Nevertheless the significance of the academies for our 
growing democracy was immense, and lay in the fact 
that they were the first step toward universal secondary 
education, which we must see consummated in the 
present generation. Begun during this period, they 
had their greatest influence in the next period ; after 
the Civil War, as we shall see, they began to be super- 
seded by the modern high schools. 



THE PERIOD OF NATIONALIZATION, 1776-1835 61 

Education Abroad. — During the period under dis- 
cussion Germany possessed the best system of pubhc 
schools of any country in the world. As a matter of 
fact she had two systems, one for the aristocratic, or 
ruling, classes, and an entirely separate system for the 
common people, — an arrangement which continues 
generally throughout European countries to the present 
time. The ^^ Gymnasium " was the core of the aristo- 
cratic system. This was a secondary school, with a 
course extending through nine or ten years. Boys 
entered it at the age of nine or ten, having received 
their elementary preparation at private schools. The 
curriculum consisted of Latin, Greek, and mathematics 
and prepared for the university. Support was chiefly 
from tuitions. The German gymnasium dates from 
the sixteenth century. It is still the most important 
of the German secondary schools for the upper classes. 

The people's schools (Volkschulen) received the chil- 
dren of the lower classes at the age of about six or seven, 
and gave them an eight-year course quite similar to 
that of our first eight grades. But it did not teach 
the subjects required for entrance to the higher schools, 
hence it disqualified the peasant children for higher 
education. This system of public schools was already 
well organized, supported, and supervised at the be- 
ginning of the nineteenth century. Elementary edu- 
cation was practically free, universal, and compulsory, 
Germany was far ahead of any of the other nations in 
this respect. The existence of this system was due 



62 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

to the foresight of the Hohenzollern kings, especially 
Frederick the Great. The Pestalozzian methods were 
adopted in the Prussian schools before 1825, so that 
Germany had the best schools in the world, not only 
in organization but in methods of instruction as well. 

England also had a good system of secondary schools 
and colleges for her aristocratic classes. Her secondary 
schools were private institutions, known collectively as 
^^ the great Public Schools.'^ Their program of studies 
was quite like that of the German gymnasium. Al- 
though these secondary schools had been in existence 
for several centuries, the elementary education of the 
masses was grossly neglected. Indeed, what was fur- 
nished them was entirely on a charity basis. The 
S. P. C. K. had been active during the eighteenth cen- 
tury (cf. p. 44). At the beginning of the nineteenth 
century it was superseded by two new societies, the 
National Society and the British and Foreign Society. 
These societies conducted charity schools on the 
monitorial plan. The course of study was very meager, 
the methods were bad, and the schools reached only a 
fraction of the people. A few leaders saw that the 
extension of the franchise then being made required 
popular education. " We must educate our new 
masters," declared one statesman. But the old theories 
resisted this new movement, and England did practi- 
cally nothing toward a truly democratic system of free 
public schools till long after 1835. Neither did France. 
Thus the schools of Europe continued to reflect the 



THE PERIOD OF NATIONALIZATION, 1776-1835 63 

caste organization of society, secondary and higher 
schools all being private, and patronized only by the 
aristocratic classes, while schools for the masses were 
rudimentary, insufficient^ and on a charity basis, ex- 
cept in Germany, and even there, while some in- 
struction was provided for all, the organization of the 
schools was explicitly directed toward a perpetuation 
of the older social order. ^^ Equality of opportunity '' 
as an educational ideal was far in the future. 



CHAPTER IV 

PESTALOZZI 

The Historic Background. — In Europe the period 
we have just been discussing (1776-1835) was marked 
by the Industrial Revolution in England, and, on the 
continent, by the French Revolution, the Napoleonic 
wars, and the reconstruction following the Congress of 
Vienna. It was a period characterized chiefly by 
democratic aspirations and struggles, due partly to the 
influence of our own successful fight for liberty. In 
the realm of the intellect this craving of the human 
spirit for liberty, achievement, and self-realization pro- 
duced in Germany a group of brilliant philosophers and 
poets, — Kant, Goethe, Schiller, Schelling, Schleier- 
macher, Hegel, Fichte, and others ; and in the field of 
education three outstanding figures, — Pestalozzi, Her- 
bart, and Froebel. This was the golden age of German 
genius, when German thought life was aspiring to a 
great freedom, and long before the stifling pressure 
of German imperial ambition had begun to take effect. 
This was the spiritual Germany to which the world owes 
so much ; and a revival of which, let us hope, the 
downfall of German autocracy will bring about. Pes- 
talozzi, Herbart, and Froebel were natural products 

64 



PESTALOZZI 65 

of such an age, and their influence upon educational 
theory and practice in both Europe and America has 
been immeasurable. 

Early Life of Pestalozzi. — Johann Heinrich Pesta- 
lozzi was born in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1746. His 
father died when he 
was young, and he was 
reared by his devoted, 
pious mother, and by 
his maternal grand- 
father, who was a rural 
pastor. Due to these 
influences, and to what 
he saw in his grand- 
father's parish of the Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi 

peasants and their deg- 
radation, he conceived a desire to consecrate his life to 
the uplifting of the common people. This purpose was 
increased almost to fanaticism by his studies at the 
University of Zurich, where his mother, through self- 
sacrificing efforts, helped to maintain him. At that 
time the little University of Zurich contained in its 
faculty some of the most stimulating minds in all 
Europe, among the rest one Bodemer, a teacher of 
history and politics, " devoting especial attention to 
the history and institutions of Switzerland, and in- 
spiring enthusiasm for justice, liberty, and the simple 
life." At about the same time Pestalozzi was deeply 
influenced by the writings of Rousseau. 




66 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

The seriousness of his purpose to reform society is 
indicated by the letter he wrote to Anna Schulthess 
just before he married her. 

''My dear friend, — I shall now reveal myself frankly 
to you, let you look as deeply into my soul as I am able to 
penetrate myself. I am improvident and incautious, and 
lack presence of mind in unexpected changes of prospect. 
I may not conceal these defects from the maiden I love, 
though I may in some measure overcome them. I am 
extreme in praise and blame, and in my likes and dislikes. 
I am negligent in matters of etiquette, and in all other 
matters of little consequence. 

''I must also confess to you that I shall always subordi- 
nate the duty that I owe to my wife to the duty that I owe 
to my country. Though I shall be the tenderest of hus- 
bands I shall always consider it my duty to remain inexorable 
to the tears of my wife if she seeks with them to keep me 
from the performance of my duties as a citizen. My life 
will not pass without important and critical undertakings. 
No fear of man shall ever keep me from speaking, if my 
country's need commands me to speak. I shall risk every- 
thing to alleviate the misery and need of my people." 

By this warning, however, the good woman was not 
dismayed ; and she eventually paid the full measure 
of her pledge. 

Pestalozzi's first venture in life was as a minister ; 
but he broke down in his trial sermon. Next he tried 
the law, hoping thereby to uplift the poor. Again he 
was a failure. Next he bought a piece of land, built 
a home on it, and undertook farming. By operating 
a sort of model farm, he hoped to show the peasants 



PESTALOZZI 67 

what could be done in agriculture. The place he called 
" Neuhof " (i.e. new farm). This venture was a finan- 
cial failure. So he turned the farm into a sort of 
industrial school, gathered together some fifty poor 
children of the neighborhood, and taught them reading, 
singing, religion, spinning, and farming. But the 
ungrateful dishonesty of the children's parents, to- 
gether with Pestalozzi's incompetence as a manager, 
rendered this venture also a financial failure. At 
thirty-five years of age Pestalozzi had failed in every- 
thing that he had undertaken, wasted his wife's in- 
heritance, and involved himself heavily in debt. The 
next fifteen or twenty years were a sad struggle with 
poverty, and left him with an abject sense of defeat. 

^^ Leonard and Gertrude." — It was during these 
years that he wrote his " Leonard and Gertrude." This 
is an interesting story about a poor peasant family that 
lived in the village of Bonal. Gertrude is the heroine. 
By thrift and the careful instruction of her children 
she is able to reform her drinking husband, rear her 
children respectably, and lift her family out of poverty 
into relative prosperity. Seeing which, the neighbors 
secure Gertrude's like services for their own children ; 
as a result, the whole village is reformed. The lesson 
which Pestalozzi meant to teach with this story was 
that education is the means by which the common 
people can be lifted ou*t of their vice and misery. But 
the message was too advanced for that age ; men 
looked to political revolution for their social salvation. 



68 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



Hence the book, though it was very popular as a mere 
story, missed its mark; Pestalozzi's own generation 
did not see the point. 

Nevertheless it was a great message, and especially 
remarkable coming as it did at that stage of the world's 
history. It was practically a new idea. Universal 




Pestalozzi at Stanz 



education had hardly been dreamed of. Time, how- 
ever, was to increase its recognition. 

In 1798, when Pestalozzi was fifty-two years of age, 
he received an appointment from the government to 
open a school for war orphans, in an unfinished con- 
vent at Stanz. Again he combined industrial training 
with ordinary teaching. Here he first made use of 
^' object-teaching " in arithmetic, language, geography, 



PESTALOZZI 69 

and natural history. But in less than a year the 
building was taken over by the French army to be used 
as a hospital. 

Later Life of Pestalozzi. — But now he began to 
succeed. In 1800 he was able to open a private school 
in the old castle and castle gardens at Burgdorf . This 
school prospered from the start. Pestalozzi gathered 
about him a staff of kindred minded teachers. The 
Pestalozzian methods became famous and men in- 
terested in education visited the school, — among 
them an envoy from the Prussian King, whose influ- 
ence upon his return we shall relate presently, and 
Herbart, who was himself to become a great educa- 
tional reformer. In 1805, the castle being needed by 
the local government at Burgdorf, Pestalozzi removed 
to Yverdon (eVer-don), where for twenty years he 
continued his institute with great success, enjoying 
even wider and more enthusiastic fame than at Burg- 
dorf. Visitors, both curious and serious, came from 
all over Europe and from America ; Pestalozzian in- 
stitutes sprang up at various points throughout Europe ; 
the kings of Prussia and Austria, when in the vicinity 
with their armies, honored him, one with the Russian 
cross and the other with a royal gift. Froebel (see 
p. 96) spent two years there studying the master's 
methods. Finally the Prussian government, due to 
the influence of Fichte and the envoy mentioned above, 
sent seventeen young teachers to Yverdon for three 
years (p. 82). 



70 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

At last, however, Pestalozzi grew too old to dominate 
the institute himself, and jealousies broke out among 
his teachers, so that the real spirit of the institution 
disappeared. It finally broke up in 1825, and Pesta- 
lozzi spent the last two years of his life in poverty and 
sorrow. He had to sell his royal medals to buy bread, 
so wretchedly does the world often reward its greatest 
benefactors. 

Pestalozzi's Pedagogical Principles. — Pestalozzi's 
contribution to the progress of education lay in the 
genius with which he applied Rousseau's fundamental 
principles of naturalism to actual schoolroom practice^ 
The particular ideas for which Pestalozzi himself stands 
may be stated as follows : 

1. The uplift of the masses through education. 

2. Educational experimentation. 

3. Industrial education. 

4. Kindly discipline. 

5. Objective teaching. 

6. The analytical method. 

The first of these has already been discussed, but 
the following quotations may not be superfluous : 

''From my youth up I felt what a high and indispensable 
human duty it is to labor for the poor and miserable ; that 
he may attain to a consciousness of his own dignity through 
his feeling of the universal powers and endowments which 
he possesses awakened within him; that he may not only 
learn to gabble over by rote the religious maxim that 'man 
is created in the image of God, and is bound to live and die 
as a child of God,' but may himself experience its truth by 



PESTALOZZI 71 

virtue of the Divine power within him, so that he may be 
raised, not only above the ploughing oxen, but also above 
the man in purple and silk who lives unworthily of his high 
destiny." 

''Why have I insisted so strongly on attention to early 
physical and intellectual education? Because I consider 
these as merely leading to a higher aim, to qualify the human 
being for the free and full use of all the faculties implanted 
by the Creator, and to direct all these faculties towards the 
perfection of the whole being of man, that he may be enabled 
to act in his peculiar station as an instrument of that All- 
wise and Almighty Power that has called him into life." 

Educational Experimentation. — As to the second 
idea, Pestalozzi's entire career at Neuhof, Stanz, Burg- 
dorf, and Yverdon constituted a series of educational 
experiments. Though not a scientist in the strict 
sense of the word, Pestalozzi's aim was quite in harmony 
with that of more recent experimental psychologists. 
He said, ^^ I wish to psychologize education '' ; and 
his example has been widely followed. Many of our 
larger normal schools and teachers' colleges now con- 
duct laboratories for educational research. Such prob- 
lems as the following are typical : the project vs. the 
textbook method of teaching the various common 
branches ; oral vs. written drill in spelling ; spelling 
in columns vs. spelling in sentences ; value of the dia- 
gram in teaching grammar ; many unlike books vs. 
many copies of the same book in teaching reading ; 
silent vs. oral reading ; extrinsic vs. intrinsic motiva- 
tion, and the like. The aim is, by keeping accurate 



72 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



records and using standard tests in measuring results 
to get answers to these questions that are scientific, 
not mere eloquent opinion. While the modern teacher- 
training schools are not conscious disciples of Pesta- 
lozzi in their experimental work, nevertheless, Pesta- 
lozzi may be said to have originated the movement 
although his methods were empirical rather than 
scientific. 

Industrial Training. — Pestalozzi believed that in- 
dustrial training should be combined with ordinary 

education. He prac- 
ticed this combination 
at Neuhof and Stanz, 
and advocated it in 
^' Leonard and Ger- 
trude." At Burgdorf 
and Yverdon he had to 
abandon industrial 
training because the 
aristocratic patrons of his school did not wish it for 
their children. The idea was taken up, however, by 
his wealthy friend Fellenberg, who for many years con- 
ducted a very successful industrial school at Hofwyl. 
Much later the same principle found expression in the 
continuation schools of Germany. These are part-time 
schools attended by children of the laboring classes 
after they have left the elementary school and gone to 
work at the age of fourteen. These schools try to fur- 
nish whatever the pupil needs to know to make him a 




The Environment of Pestalozzi 



PESTALOZZI 73 

more intelligent worker. The Pestalozzian idea of in- 
dustrial training has not been much utilized in America 
until very recently ; and now the rise of industrial 
education is not due to Pestalozzi's influence but to 
the necessities of the times. We should do well^ 
however, to recognize even to-day the validity and 
force of his conception of the matter. Industrial edu- 
cation in America will be discussed in the proper place 
(see pp. 243-250). 

Kindly Discipline. — Rousseau taught that every 
human being has a right to be happy. That was a 
revolutionary idea in those days. Pestalozzi was the 
first to apply it to school discipline ; and that was 
certainly a revolution in school practice. This move- 
ment was quite in harmony with the spirit of that age ; 
for at about that time there occurred a marked in- 
crease in human sympathy, which revealed itself in the 
abolition of many of the brutal penalties to which 
criminals had been subjected. Pestalozzi advocated 
firm but loving discipline. Since his day the idea has 
been all too slowly applied. The old discipline de- 
scribed in Chapter I continued in American schools 
throughout the Period of Nationalization, indeed down 
almost to the close of the nineteenth century. But 
recently the example of Pestalozzi has taken effect, and 
schools are becoming places where children can be 
happy. Indeed there is some tendency to go to the 
opposite extreme and make discipline loving without 
being firm. This is sentimentality. 



74 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

The Objective Method. — The most important of all 
Pestalozzi's contributions to educational practice was 
his observational, or objective, method of teaching. 
The following quotations state Pestalozzi's theory in 
his own words : 

''Let these questions be short, clear, and intelhgible. 
Let them not merely lead the child to repeat in the same, 
or in varied terms, what he has heard just before. Let 
them excite him to observe what is before him, to recollect 
what he has learned, and to master his little stock of knowl- 
edge for materials for an answer. Show him a certain 
quality in one thing, and let him find out the same in others. 
Tell him that the shape of a ball is called round, and if, 
accordingly, you bring him to point out other objects to 
which the same property belongs, you have employed him 
more usefully than by the most perfect discourse on ro- 
tundity. In the one instance he would have had to listen 
and to recollect, in the other he has to observe and to think. '^ 
''From observation and memory there is only one step to 
reflection. Though imperfect, this operation is often found 
among the early exercises of the infant mind. The powerful 
stimulus of inquisitiveness prompts to exertions which, if 
successful or encouraged by others, will lead to a habit of 
thought." 

"Not only is there not one of the little incidents in the 
life of a child, in his amusements and recreations, in his 
relations, in his relation to his parents, and friends, and 
playmates; but there is actually not anything within the 
reach of a child's attention, whether it belong to nature 
or to the employments and arts of life, that may not be 
made the object of a lesson by which some useful knowledge 
may be imparted, and, what is still more important, by 



PESTALOZZI 75 

which the child may not be famiharized with the habit of 
thinking on what he sees, and speaking after he has thought. 
The mode of doing this is not by any means to talk much 
to a child, but to enter into conversation with a child ; not 
to address to him many words, however famiUar and well 
chosen, but to bring him to express himself on the subject ; 
not to exhaust the subject, but to question the child about 
it, and to let him find out and correct the answers. It 
would be ridiculous to expect that the volatile spirits of a 
child could be brought to follow any lengthy explanations. 
The attention is deadened by long expositions, but roused 
by animated questions." 

A good example of Pestalozzi's own application of 
this theory is quoted by Parker : ^ 

^'The first elements of geography were taught us from 
the land itself. We were first taken to a narrow valley 
not far from Yverdon, where the river Buron runs. After 
taking a general view of the valley, we were made to examine 
the details, until we had obtained an exact and complete 
idea of it. We were then told to take some of the clay 
which lay in beds on one side of the valley, and fill the 
baskets which we had brought for the purpose. On our 
return to the Castle, we took our places at the long tables, 
and reproduced in relief the valley we had just studied, 
each one doing the part that had been allotted to him. In 
the course of the next few days more walks and more ex- 
plorations, each day on higher ground, and each time with 
a further extension of our work. Only when our rehef was 
finished were we shown the map, which by this means we 
did not see until we were in a position to understand it." 

^S. C. Parker, "The History of Modern Elementary Education," 
p. 326. 



76 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

In teaching arithmetic Pestalozzi took great pains 
to have children handle and count actual objects, so 
that they could acquire a definite idea of what the 
numbers meant. Otherwise the child, he wrote,- forms 

^'the habit of associating no difference of meaning with the 
various names of numbers he pronounces. Why have I 
been so foolish as to let him pronounce important words 
without taking care at the same time to give him a clear 
idea of their meaning?" 

He taught composition by showing his pupils objects, 
discussing their characteristics with them, encouraging 
their conversation, and then asking them to write 
about the objects. This is what Horace Mann (Chap. 
VI) thought of the method : 

''Again, the method I have described necessarily leads 
to conversation, and conversation with an intelligent teacher 
secures several important objects. It brightens ideas before 
only dimly apprehended. It addresses itself to the various 
faculties of the mind, so that no one of them ever tires or is 
cloyed. It teaches the child to use language, to frame sen- 
tences, to select words which convey his whole meaning, to 
avoid those which convey either more or less than he intends 
to express ; in fine, it teaches him to seek for thoughts upon 
a subject, and then to find appropriate language in which to 
clothe them." 

There are instances on record that Pestalozzi carried 
this to absurd lengths, as when he had nothing else to 
observe than the holes in the old, dingy wall paper of 
the Burgdorf castle. In such cases he is reported even 



PESTALOZZI 77 

to have put words into the mouths of his pupils and had 
them repeat them after him. This, of course, was a 
sheer reversal of his own theory. The use of words 
without adequate comprehension of their meaning was 
exactly what Pestalozzi wished by object teaching to 
avoid. Unfortunately this was the feature of his work 
that was too often copied by those who were mere 
imitators without real understanding. This degen- 
erate phase of Pestalozzianism flourished in England. 

Its Value to the Teacher. — A minor value of the 
objective method is that it encourages oral teaching. 
This has a tendency to liberate the teacher from the 
textbook, to which the average American teacher was, 
and still is, a slave. Oral teaching called for the 
development of a technique of such teaching ; thus 
Pestalozzi contributed indirectly to the growth of 
scientific pedagogical methods. 

But the real reason for objective teaching lies deeper 
than this, and grows out of the fact that seeing, hearing, 
and handling furnish the raw materials out of which 
thoughts are made. Stated in psychological terms : 
perceptual experience is prerequisite to imagination 
and conception. It is of no use to ask a child born and 
reared on the prairies, and who never has seen any- 
thing but a little country town, to imagine what 
Broadway looks like. He cannot do it ; he has no 
mind-stuff out of which to build his mental picture. 
And it would be equally impossible for an East Side 
street urchin to imagine a wheat harvest in the Red 



78 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

River Valley. If one were to try teaching the prairie 
boy how Broadway looks one would have to show him 
things. Pictures of New York City would help, espe- 
cially moving pictures. A visit to Grand Forks or 
Fargo would help, because there he would see things 
a little like Broadway. A visit to Minneapolis would 
be better, because there he would see sights more 
nearly like New York. But really to understand he 
would have actually to visit Broadway itself. If the 
teacher has him merely read printed words in a book, 
words in a book are all he will get. He may memorize 
the words and recite them glibly, but he will learn 
nothing. 

The student may bring this necessity for perceptual ex- 
perience home to himself by the following experiments : 
Let him (1) study a typewritten copy of the Ford 
Manual from which the pictures have been ocnitted, 
then (2) study the printed manual, (3) spend time 
enough in a garage to see a Ford car thoroughly over- 
hauled. Again : just before the public performance 
of some dramatic or operatic entertainment let the 
student (1) read or listen to a description of it. Then, 
if practicable, (2) let a class meeting or general as- 
sembly be devoted to the rendition of pajts of it 
by amateurs, with connective descriptions ; (3.) visit 
the performance itself. A few such experiments will 
convince the student how little one gets from mere 
words without having had ear and eye experience with 
the thing itself. 



PESTALOZZI 79 

Sometimes one may have seen, heard, or handled 
things enough hke the things he is trying to imagine 
to help considerably. As Angell says in his " Psy- 
chology/' one would build the mental image of a five- 
legged dog out of the imagery of four-legged dogs that 
he had seen. To show how this applies to teaching : 
There was once a farmer boy, whose father had raised 
a patch of sugar cane of the kind that sorghum is made 
from. The boy helped harvest the cane, rode on the 
loads to the cane mill, saw the stalks ground, smelled 
the juice as it ran down a trough into the pans, watched 
the man stir and skim and run it from pan to pan as 
it was being cooked, saw it drawn off and put into 
barrels, climbed on the piles of canes, saw the stack of 
mashed pulp, sauntered around among the rows of 
kegs and barrels filled with the finished product, ate 
the new-made sorghum till his stomach revolted 
against more, and washed his sticky fingers in the 
creek near by. A few days later that same boy's 
geography lesson at school happened to be about 
sugar making in Louisiana. He utilized his experi- 
ences at the sorghum mill as imagery out of which to 
build mental pictures of the southern sugar industry. 
They were doubtless inadequate, but they were vastly 
better than none, for without the sorghum mill ex- 
perience he would have been utterly helpless. 

Now when one reflects how much school education 
consists in trying to teach children about things they 
have never seen nor heard nor felt one begins to realize 



80 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

how futile much of it is. Children learn words ; they 
are confused by what they do not understand ; they 
form the habit of juggling phrases ; and their minds 
become spoiled. This is one reason why many people 
seldom look at books again after they have finished 
school. 

Pestalozzi's idea was that it is the teacher's business 
to furnish perceptual experiences for the child. What- 
ever the teacher is trying to teach the child about she 
must make it ^^look-at-able/' or better, '' get-at-able." 
If she is teaching dry measure, have the pint, quart, 
peck, and bushel measures right there, have something 
to measure, and let the children measure it. If she is 
teaching grain dockage, take the children to the ela- 
vator, show them the '^ kicker " and dockage scales, 
and let them actually see the process. If they are 
studying '' The Village Blacksmith " have them visit 
the local blacksmith shop. If the things she is teaching 
about cannot be brought into the schoolhouse or 
visited — and most of them cannot — then let the 
teacher instead assemble pictures, and any conceivable 
illustrative material she can. The moving picture 
machine should for this reason be freely used in all 
schools. Where objective or graphic illustration is 
impossible and verbal description must be depended 
upon, then every effort must be made to choose words 
with which the child has already associated rich, 
concrete, objective experiences. There is no one 
thing that the elementary teacher can do that will go 



PESTALOZZI 81 

farther toward vitalizing her daily instruction than to 
put in practice Pestalozzi's principle of object teaching. 

In later chapters we shall trace the immense influ- 
ence that Pestalozzian object teaching has had upon 
American practice, and point out further applications 
that can profitably be made of it ; for however great 
Pestalozzi's influence may have been it ought to in- 
crease as time goes on. 

The Analytical Method. — Pestalozzi's analytical 
method may be passed by with a word because it was 
not a contribution. He taught that the constituent 
parts into which things can be analyzed were to be 
taught to children first ; then put them together later. 
This was like the method of teaching reading then 
prevalent : begin by learning the letters, later put 
them into short syllables ; then combine syllables into 
words, and finally assemble words into sentences. We 
now know this to be psychologically unsound, for the 
reason that the child's mind naturally grasps such 
wholes, or units, as it can use, and then analyzes them 
later as occasion arises. Thus it is easier to learn the 
word ^^ dog " than to learn the letter '^ d," because 
the child has use for the word, but not for the letter. 
Later, when it begins to dawn upon him that words 
are made up of letters, he can be interested in learning 
the letters. Pestalozzi's analytical method was there- 
fore a reversal of nature ; and it has since been a gain 
to abandon it. What he should have taught, and what 
he perhaps had vaguely in mind, is that children 



82 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

sliould learn thoroughly the simple things with which 
they naturally begin before trying to go on to more 
complicated matters. It should be added that this 
unfortunate phase of Pestalozzianism had consider- 
able popularity in both England and America^ so much 
so that it actually became for a time a retarding in- 
fluence. 

Pestalozzi's Influence. — At the beginning of the 
nineteenth century Prussia already had a well-organized 
system of public education. (See Chap. III^ p. 61.) 
During the Napoleonic wars that state was at one time 
completely crushed. Then it was that Fichte, one of 
the great philosophers of the period, urged the further 
extension of education as a means of restoring the 
national life. He had met Pestalozzi in Zurich, and 
become an advocate of Pestalozzianism, especially of 
the idea that education can be made a means of up- 
lifting a people. It was partly due to Fichte^s influence 
that the seventeen students were sent up to Yverdon. 
The Prussian minister of education, himself a disciple 
of Pestalozzi, sent them with this commission (p. 69) : 

''What I want you to do is to warm yourselves at the 
sacred fire which burns in the heart of this man so full of 
strength and love, whose work has remained so far below 
what he originally desired, below the essential idea of his 
life, of which the method is only a feeble product. . . . 
You will have reached perfection when you have clearly 
seen that education is an art and the most sublime and most 
holy art of all, and in what connection it is with the great 
art of the education of nations." 



PESTALOZZI 83 

This was in 1808. Upon their return they were 
placed in positions of influence and official leadership, 
with the result that in a few years the Pestalozzian 
methods were engrafted upon Prussia's excellent 
school organization. Object teaching has ever since 
characterized the German method. The result was 
known as the Prussian-Pestalozzian system. This 
occurred before the death of Pestalozzi ; and it was 
chiefly from Prussia that Pestalozzianism was later 
introduced into the United States. The Pestalozzian 
influence in America has been very considerable but it 
will be most conveniently discussed in the chapters 
on the periods when it occurred (see pp. 125, 166, 
266). 

One of the outstanding characteristics of Pestalozzi's 
personality was his almost religious consecration to 
the cause of human welfare. While he manifested this 
trait more conspicuously and with more self-sacrifice 
than most great educators, nevertheless, it is a trait 
that they all reveal almost equally with the great 
heroes of the church. It is a quality without which 
no educator can become really great. Teaching is no 
trade for the self-seeker. 



CHAPTER V 

HERBART AND FROEBEL 

Herbart and Froebel were both products of the 
period under discussion in the last chapter. While 
their life and work, especially those of Froebel, ex- 
tended somewhat beyond 1835, the close of the Nation- 
alization Period in America, their influence in America 
did not begin till after the Civil War. There is some 
uncertainty, therefore, as to the logical place to in- 
sert their story ; but the student will probably most 
readily locate their dates if they are placed between 
Pestalozzi and the New England Common School 
Revival, since chronologically that is where their lives, 
if not their American influence, belong. 

Herbart' s Biography. — Herbart was the older of 
these two educational theorists. He died in 1841 
at the age of sixty-five. For almost forty years he had 
been a university professor of pedagogy and philosophy, 
first at Gottingen, later at Konigsberg, and finally at 
Gottingen again. His life was accordingly almost 
entirely free from the disappointments, struggles, and 
poverty with which Pestalozzi was so constantly 
harassed. Herbart was born into the professional 
class ; his parents and grandparents were among the 

84 



HERBART AND FROEBEL 85 

intellectuals of the time. Herb art himself was edu- 
cated at the University of Jena, where, as an under- 
graduate, he distinguished himself by the brilliancy of 
his philosophical writings. He was also profoundly 
influenced by the thought life of the age. His educa- 
tion had put him in possession of the best intellectual 
contribution of the 
ancient Greeks and, 
what is more impor- 
tant, gave him an in- 
timate touch with the 
brilliant work of the 
great thinkers and 
writers mentioned in 
the last chapter. These 
influences furnished 
the background for his 
life work ; they made 
him a philosopher. 
Before completing his 
university career, how- 

, , JOHANN FrIEDRICH HeRBART 

ever, he spent three 

years in Switzerland as private tutor to the three sons 
of the Governor of Interlaken. Here he made a very 
careful and discerning study of his three pupils, of 
their differences of age and personality, and of the 
subject matter and methods by which they could 
properly be taught. Five of the bimonthly written 
reports that his employer required of him are still ex- 




86 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

tant; and show the beginnings of his later work. It 
was during his stay in Switzerland that he visited 
Pestalozzi at Burgdorf and became very greatly in- 
terested in his fundamental principles. He also, wrote 
and spoke on the Pestalozzian methods. 

As a university professor he established the first 
pedagogical seminary and practice school in connection 
with a university, worked out a system of psychology 
as a basis for his pedagogy — he was the father of 
modern educational psychology — and evolved a com- 
plete theory of education. His most important work, 
in which his matured pedagogical theories are set 
forth, was the '^ Outlines of Educational Doctrine," 
published in 1835. Since it was Herbart's pedagogical 
theories that most influenced American education 
later it will be necessary to outline them briefly. 

The Aim of Education. — The democratic aspira- 
tions of the Napoleonic era — Germany w^as fighting 
French autocracy then ! — and the insight of Pesta- 
lozzi, Fichte, and many others that education was to be 
the means of popular uplift, furnished the logical 
starting point for Herbart's thought. Moral char- 
acter, he said, is the aim of education. Moral char- 
acter includes virtue, intelligent insight, self-control. 
Impart these to the rising generation of any nation 
and the hopes of the men of that aspiring age would be 
realized. 

Developing character in young persons is largely a 
matter of building up certain approved interests 



HERBART AND FROEBEL 87 

within them. The differences between a pirate and a 
priest is in their interests. That character consists in 
interests is especially obvious when the word char- 
acter is taken in the broad sense of qualification to 
take part efficiently in civilized life. Education then, 
as Herbart saw it, is a matter of building up in young 
persons an interest in the interests of civilized society. 
But how can those interests be acquired ? Children 
are interested in childish things. Civilization is made 
up of adult interests. But those adult interests of 
civilized life must be acquired by children while they 
are still immature. Otherwise they come to maturity 
unprepared, and that, if general, would break civiliza- 
tion down. To impart mature interest to immature 
children is the paradox demanded of the school. How 
to do it is the perennial problem of teaching. This 
was the problem that Herbart attacked. He must 
have seen that the traditional curriculum, the memor- 
iter methods, and the harsh discipline so common then 
were not accomplishing it. The diet served pupils 
was not being digested and assimilated ; it was only 
making them victims of intellectual and moral malnu- 
trition. Herbart accordingly found himself confront- 
ing the problems : (1) What shall be taught ? and 
(2) How shall it be taught so as to make sure that it 
will take effect? What mental diet shall be offered, 
and how shall it be served up so that it will be digested 
and assimilated, and actually nourish and eventually 
mature the sort of moral character required by society ? 



88 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



from Herb art's 
of Educa- 



Subject Matter. — Herbart's answer to the first 
question was : History and literature. He advocated 
developing the child's interest in many things ; but 
his emphasis upon history and literature was- most 
important, both logically and historically. His rea- 
sons for this choice of subject matter are expressed in 

the following quota- 
tion 

" Science 
tion " : 

^'Give to children an 
interesting story, rich in 
incidents, relationships, 
characters, strictly in ac- 
cordance with the psycho- 
logical truth, and not 
beyond the feelings and 
ideas of children; make 
no effort to depict the 
worst or the best, only let 
a faint, half-unconscious 
moral tact secure that the 
interest of the action tends away from the bad towards the 
good, the just, the right ; then you will see how the child's 
attention is fixed upon it, how it seeks to discover the truth 
and thinks over all sides of the matter, how the many-sided 
material calls forth a many-sided judgment, how the charm 
of change ends in preference for the best, so that the boy, 
who perhaps feels himself a step or two higher in moral 
judgment than the hero or the author, will cling to his view 
with inner approbation, and so guard himself from a coarse- 
ness he already feels beneath him." 




The Environment of the Great 
Reformers 



HERBART AND FROEBEL 89 

In short bethought moral ideals and sentiments would 
be absorbed from these subjects. It may be. added in 
passing that he meant history to include not merely 
national but general history, and he was particularly 
partial to the hterature of the Greeks. This idea of 
Herbart's has completely revolutionized the teaching 
of history and literature in our own elementary schools 
since 1890 ; but that will be told later (cf. pp. 263 ff.). 

The " how " of instruction was in Herbart's thought 
a much more complicated problem, and his answer 
divides itself into two parts : (1) how to arrange the 
subject matter so it will interest the child, and (2) how 
to conduct the recitation. 

Arrangement of the Curriculum. — To answer the 
first he worked out quite an elaborate theory. Although 
Darwin had not yet published his '' Origin of Species " 
the scholars of that day were already beginning to be 
interested in the theory of evolution. Herbart pre- 
sented the related theory that each individual in his 
own personal growth climbs up the same ladder that 
the race as a whole has climbed in the course of its 
evolution. For example, there once was a time when 
men were tree dwellers ; and there is a time in nearly 
every boy's life, at, say, about eight or ten years of 
age, when he seems to have a passion for climbing 
trees. According to Herbart's theory the boy at this 
stage of his development is recapitulating the tree- 
dwelling stage of the race ; and likewise all the child's 
instinctive interests, at various stages of his develop- 



90 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

merit " recapitulate " some corresponding stage of the 
race's development. This is known as the "culture 
epochs theory J' Enough illustrations can be selected 
to make this theory appear plausible, but the excep- 
tions are too numerous to permit its being taken very 
seriously.^ Certainly it is easier to understand the 
moment one gives up trying to believe it. Neverthe- 
less, there is a vein of truth in it, and Herbart relied 
upon it as a guide for arranging the subject matter of 
the curriculum. History was to be made the core of 
the curriculum ; for history '^ recapitulates " the life 
of the race. Literature was to be studied in connec- 
tion with the history of the period it described. The 
other subjects were likewise to be " correlated " around 
this history-literature core. The geography of places 
referred to was to be studied as a part of the history or 
literature lesson itself. Opportunities were to be found 
or made for " correlating '' arithmetic, hygiene, or what 
not, in the same way. 

What Herbart's theory was may perhaps best be 
understood by his disciples' attempt to work it out in 
concrete detail. The following table '-^ of topics for the 
eight years of the elementary school was planned a 
generation later by Ziller of Leipzig. 

School Year 

1st Grimm's Fairy Tales 
2d Robinson Crusoe 

^ See Thomas, "Source Book of Social Origins," p. 26. 

2 Parker's "History of Modern Elementary Education," p. 408. 



HERBART AND FROEBEL 91 





Sacred History 


German History 


3d 


Patriarchs and Moses 


Legends of Thuringia 


4th 


Judges and Kings 


Niebelungen tales 


5th 1 
6th J 


Life of Christ 


Charlemagne, etc. 




Middle Ages 


7th 


Apostle Paul 


Reformation 


8th 


Luther. Catechism 


Frederick the Great 
Napoleonic Wars, etc. 



It is a little difficult to see how the items in Ziller's 
table correspond to eight separate and distinct stages 
in the child's development. Nevertheless around this 
core Rein of Jena ^^ correlated " all the subject matter 
of the elementary curriculum, working it out in suffi- 
cient detail to fill a large book. 

But Herbart was attempting to solve the problem 
of how to insure children's interest in the curriculum 
subjects. The culture epochs theory seemed to offer 
a simple solution to that very difficult problem. Ac- 
cording to that theory children have the same natural 
interests at any given stage of their growth that the 
race had at the corresponding stage of its evolution. 
Therefore, at the tree-dwelling stage the child can easily 
be interested in anything the tree dwellers themselves 
were interested in. Accordingly, at each stage of the 
child's development give him the history, literature, 
and other culture material of the race at the corre- 
sponding stage ; and his interest will be assured. That 
is what the Ziller table pretended to do. 

It will be a mistake for the student to discard the cul- 



92 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

ture epochs theory as altogether false. There is a core 
of truth in it. In general, children are indeed interested 
in the childhood interests of the race ; there is a sense 
in which pre-adolescent boys are young Indians ; the 
mature achievements of civilization require some 
maturity of mind and experience to be appreciated. 
But, like the earth's crust, not all the geologic layers 
can be found in any one place. Not much practical 
use can be made of the theory in curriculum 
building ; and the attempt has now been largely 
abandoned. 

The Recitation. — Let us return now to the second 
phase of Herbart's problem of method, namely, how to 
conduct the recitation so as to make sure of interesting 
the children. Herbart objected to the sort of instruc- 
tion in which children are given isolated facts. He 
explained that there are naturally four steps in the 
process by which subject matter is properly presented 
to children. These he called (1) clearness, (2) associa- 
tion, (3) system, and (4) method. By the first he 
meant the explanation of the details of the subject ; 
by the second, comparison of part with part by con- 
versation ; by the third, selecting the leading thoughts ; 
and by the fourth, use of the new knowledge in inde- 
pendent thinking. Herbart suggested these steps to 
be followed in the elaboration of new subject matter, 
with the idea that it might sometimes require weeks or 
months to complete the process. But his followers 
worked the method of procedure out as a lesson plan 



HERBART AND FROEBEL 93 

to be followed through and completed in each and 
every recitation. They subdivided one of the steps, 
however, making five in all as follows : prepara- 
tion, presentation, comparison, generalization, and 
application. These are the famous five formal steps 
of the Herbartians, which have had an immense 
popularity in America. We shall return to them 
later. 

Apperception. — Underlying all these methods for 
interesting the children there was in Herbart's thought 
an important psychological doctrine, namely the doc- 
trine of apperception. This means that we naturally 
take an interest in things that we already know some- 
thing about. In other words, the new material a 
teacher gives the child must be related in some vital way 
to what he is already interested in or else he cannot 
take interest in it. For this reason a speaker would 
handle the same subject very differently before a 
group of farmers, a meeting of college professors, or a 
class of school children. Their experiences, i.e. their 
'^ apperceptive bases," are all different ; and a speech 
that would be easily " apperceived " by one group 
might not be ^' apperceived " by another at all. Ap- 
perception is the mental act of interpreting new ma- 
terial in the light of past experiences. There is no 
other way to interpret new material. If the pupil 
does not apperceive he does not learn. But if he can 
connect the lesson material with what he is already 
interested in he may become interested in the lesson, 



, 94 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

understand it, and readily " learn " it. Herbart^s 
theories as to how subject matter should be organized 
in the course of study and how it should be presented 
in the recitation were an attempt to solve the problem 
of apperception, and so assure the pupils' interest. 
His contribution was more in the presentation than 
in the solution of the problem ; psychologists and 
educators have been working on its solution ever 
since. 

Herbart's Influence. — Although Herbart's work 
was nearly all done before 1835 his influence upon 
American education did not begin till half a century 
later. But then it was immense. At the proper place 
(Chap. X) that influence will be discussed. 

Froebel's Early Life. — The details of Froebel's 
biography are extremely interesting, and the circum- 
stances of his early life had some influence in determin- 
ing his theories and their promulgation after his death. 
He was born at the village of Oberweisbach in the 
Thuringian Forest in 1782. His mother died in his in- 
fancy. His father, who was a busy pastor, neglected 
him ; and his stepmother mistreated him. Part of 
his childhood was spent in the home of a mater- 
nal uncle. At fifteen he was apprenticed to a forester. 
His communion with nature during this period of 
solitary rambles in the forest stimulated the mysticism 
which characterized much of his mature thinking. 
Later he attended the university at Jena which was 
^t that time the intellectual center of Europe. The 



HERBART AND FROEBEL 



95 



evolutionary tliooiy was beginning to influence science 
and" Jena felt the impulse of this new movement. 
Fichte and Scbelling, too^ w(Te fUling the place with 
discussions of their idealistic philosophy, and in the 
near-by city of Weimar lived the great leaders of the 
new romanticism in literature. It is possible that 
Froebel may have 
come under the per- 
sonal influence of 
Goethe and Schiller, 
and that this experi- 
ence enabled him, as 
one writer expresses 
it, to '^ participate in 
the dominant thought 
life of the age." And 
there has scarcely 
ever been a time and a 
place where a greater 
thought life centered. 

However, his university career ended in disgrace — 
he lay more than two months in jail for a debt of less 
than ten dollars. The next four years he spent at 
various sorts of work, none of which satisfied him. 
In 1805 he began the study of architecture at Frank- 
furt. Here he met Grtiner, director of a Pestaloz- 
zian model school. Through this man Froebel found 
himself, and realized that his life work was to be that 
of an educator. He himself said : '' From the first I 



|\ 




Friedrich W. a. Froebel 



96 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

found something I had always longed for, but always 
missed ; as if my life had at last discovered its native 
element. I felt as happy as a fish in water." Froebel 
spent two years in Griiner's school, after which he 
became private tutor to three boys. He secured the 
consent of these boys' parents to take them to Yverdon, 
where he taught them imder the guidance of Pesta- 
lozzi. This was a fruitful period in Froebel's devel- 
opment. 

We find Froebel again at the age of nearly thirty 
at the universities, this time at Gottingen and Berlin. 
Thence he enlisted in the Prussian army, and went 
through the campaign of 1813 against the Napoleonic 
aggressions. But even as a soldier his mind was on 
his teaching. His military experience showed him 
the value of discipline and united action — a lesson 
that we Americans have just relearned — and no 
doubt helped him to counteract the Rousselian fallacy 
of education in isolation. During his career as a 
soldier he met Heinrich Langethal and Wilhelm Mit- 
tendorf, theological students ten years younger than 
he, who became his life-long friends, disciples, and 
assistants. 

Froebel's First Educational Venture. — In 1816 
Froebel returned to Keilhau to take charge of the edu- 
cation of his five nephews. Here he founded his 
^^ Universal German Institute of Education." He was 
joined in this enterprise by Langethal, Mittendorf, and 
Barop. These young men all married and formed an 



HERBART AND FROEBEL 97 

educational colony. Froebel's wife was a brilliant 
idealist and romanticist, Henriette Wilhelmine Klepper 
{nee Hoffmeister) , the daughter of a Prussian Coun- 
cillor of War. She exerted a large influence over his 
early career. Here these young enthusiasts put into 
practice the fundamental principles of Froebel's theory. 
Here in 1826 he published his ^^ Education of Man/' 
which contains his educational philosophy. The 
following is a part of inspector Zeh's official report 
on the institution : 

" I found here a closely united family of some sixty mem- 
bers, held together in mutual confidence, and every member 
seeking the good of the whole. That this union must have 
the most salutary influence on instruction and training and 
on the pupils themselves, is self-evident. No slumbering 
power remains unawakened ; each finds the stimulus it 
needs in so large a family. The aim of the institution is 
by no means knowledge and science merely, but free self- 
active development of the mind from within." 

Froebel continued at Keilhau for fourteen years, 
after which he undertook several educational ventures 
in Switzerland, one of which was at Burgdorf, but 
none of which was successful. 

The Blankenburg Kindergarten. — In 1837 he re- 
turned to Blankenburg, near Keilhau, where he opened 
his first real Kindergarten. In connection with this 
institution (and later at Leibenstein) he conducted a 
training class for young women teachers. His wife 
died in 1839. In 1849 he married Luise Levin, his 



98 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



favorite kindergartner. She had through a secret devo- 
tion to Froebel taken domestic service in Keilhau in 
order to be near him, and; although uneducated and 
nearly forty, she completed the kindergarten training. 
After Froebel's death she was influential in perpetuat- 
ing and spreading his doctrines, as we shall see. It was 

during this period of his life 
that Baroness von Btilow be- 
came a disciple of Froebel. 
She was an intelligent, versa- 
tile woman. After his death 
she lectured and established 
kindergartens in France, Bel- 
gium, Holland, England, and 
Italy. 

Disappointment and Death. 
— Froebel devoted the last 
twelve years of his life chiefly 
to his kindergarten. He 
trained many teachers ; and kindergartens were 
established in many places throughout Germany. 
But his life ended in tragedy. A great democratic 
upheaval swept over Europe in 1848 ; but it was 
presently put down by the concerted efforts of the 
HohenzoUerns, the Hapsburgs, and the Romanoffs. 
Then followed a period of repression under the leader- 
ship of Bismarck and Metternich. All forms of 
democratic aspirations were ruthlessly suppressed. 
FroebeFs name furnished a pretext for confusing his 




The Original Kindergarten 
House at Blankenburg 



HERBART AND FROEBEL 



99 



work with the sociahstic writings of his nephew Karl, 
his kindergartens were suppressed by edict of the 
Prussian government on the absurd charge of being 
atheistic. Bismarck had just come into power and 
was beginning that poHcy of repression by which the 
foundations of later Hohenzollern autocracy were laid. 
Froebel died broken-hearted within a year. 




The Original Kindergarten Circle at Blankenburg 

The Kindergarten. — During the course of his life 
Froebel engaged in numerous educational ventures, 
the most famous, if not the most significant, of which 
was his Kindergarten, established at Blankenburg. 
This was a school for children between the ages of 
three and seven. The exercises consisted mostly of play 
especially organized to suit the needs of young children 
as they were conceived by Froebel. The object, as 
Froebel expresses it, was " to give the children em- 
ployment in agreement with their whole nature, to 



100 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

strengthen their bodies, to exercise their senses, to 
engage their awakening mind, and through their 
senses to bring them acquaintance with nature and 
their fellow creatures ; it is especially to guide aright 
the heart and the affections, and to lead them to the 
original ground of all life, to unity with themselves.'' 
The original kindergarten exercises differ considerably 
from those one sees in a modern kindergarten. The 
activities, consisting almost entirely of play, were of 
three types: (1) "play songs" for mother and child; 
(2) six " gifts," consisting of ball, cube, and other 
geometrical forms ; and (3) " occupations," or activi- 
ties involving the use of the ^^ gifts." This program 
was very much influenced by Froebel's strange mysti- 
cal philosophy. He seems seriously to have believed 
that nature in some mysterious way symbolizes and 
teaches spiritual and moral lessons. Children are 
influenced by occult analogies, he believed. The ball, 
the cube, and the circle are symbols of spiritual and 
social perfection. It was for this reason that he used 
them in his kindergarten plays. 

'^I am convinced, that the exalted and often ecstatic 
delight of children in their simple movement plays is by 
no means to be explained through the exertion of mere 
physical force — mere bodily activity. The true source of 
their joy is the dim premonition which stirs their sensitive 
hearts that in their play there is hidden a deep significance ; 
that it is, in fact, the husk within which is concealed the 
kernel of a living spiritual truth.'^ 



HERBART AND FROEBEL 101 

Belief in these symbolisms has been largely dropped 
since Froebel's time, and the resulting activities have 
been modified to meet the instinctive needs of childhood. 

FroebeVs Pedagogical Principles. — Although best 
known as the founder of the kindergarten, Froebel's 
chief contribution to education was in the pedagogi- 
cal principles upon which the kindergarten was based. 
In his earlier teaching experience and educational 
experiments he had sought to apply these same prin- 
ciples in secondary and elementary education. He 
meant them to be so applied, and they have been so 
applied in recent years in America. They are set 
forth in his book, " The Education of Man.'^ 

Mysticism. — Froebel was a mystical religious phil- 
osopher. His philosophy resulted from his tempera- 
ment, his early training, and his association with the 
idealistic philosophy that centered at Jena. This 
religious philosophy of his is summarized in the fol- 
lowing quotation : 

''In all things there lives and reigns an eternal law. This 
law has been and is enounced with equal clearness and dis- 
tinctness in nature (the external), in the spirit (the internal), 
and in life, which unites the two. This all-controlling law 
is necessarily based on an all-pervading, energetic, living, 
self-conscious, and hence eternal Unity. This Unity is God. 
All things have come from the Divine Unity, from God, 
and have their origin in the Divine Unity, in God alone. 
All things live and have their being in and through the 
Divine Unity, in and through God. The divine effluence 
that lives in each thing is the essence of each thing." 



102 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

It is customary to assert that Froebel's doctrine of 
unity was vaguely conceived and had no such bearing 
on his pedagogical theories as he imagined it had. No 
doubt this is partly true ; and yet modern education 
would be greatly enriched if all teachers entertained 
the religious reverence expressed in the following : 

"The purpose of education is to raise man into free, 
conscious obedience to the divine principle that lives in 
him, and to a free representation of this principle in his 
life. It should lead man to see that this principle also con- 
stitutes the essence of nature and is permanently manifested 
in nature. It should demonstrate that the same law rules 
both nature and man, and that man and nature proceed 
from God and are conditioned by him. It should lead and 
guide him to clearness concerning himself, to peace with 
nature, and to unity with God. The inner essence of things 
is recognized by the innermost spirit of man through outer 
manifestations, and all education, all instruction and train- 
ing, start from the outer manifestations of man and things, 
and, proceeding from the outer, act upon the inner, and 
form its judgments concerning the inner." 

The great educators of all time have been inspired by 
religious conceptions of the dignity of man and the func- 
tion of education. It is doubtful if an effective craft 
spirit, or an educational system adequate to the needs 
of a great civilization, can be built on any other basis. 

Froebel's two great pedagogical principles are (1) self- 
activity and (2) social participation. 

Self -activity. — Self-activity is sometimes referred 
to under different nameS; as : self expression, motor 



HERBART AND FROEBEL 103 

expression, or free development. It means furnishing 
children opportunity to do the things that their inner 
nature prompts them to do. It will be recognized as 
closely akin, therefore, to Rousseau's naturalism. It 
differed from Pestalozzi's observational method in 
that the latter was passive, while motor expression is 
active. In accordance with this principle Froebel 
conducted much of his teaching through play. The 
children were much in the open air and in the gardens 
around the school. He let them roam in the woods, 
hunting flowers, insects, birds, and small animals. 
He taught them all sorts of stories and songs. Thus 
he sought to unfold the powers latent within the 
child. 

''Man is developed and cultured toward the fulfillment 
of his destiny and mission, and is to be valued, even in boy- 
hood, not only by what he receives and absorbs from without, 
but much more by what he puts out and unfolds from himself. 
Plastic material representation in life and through doing, 
united with thought and speech, is by far more developing 
and cultivating than the merely verbal representation of 
ideas." 

''The starting point of all that appears, of all that exists, 
and therefore of all intellectual conception, is act, action. 
From the act, from action, must therefore start true human 
education, the developing education of the man ; in action, 
in acting, it must be rooted and must spring up. Living, 
acting, conceiving, — these must form a triple chord within 
every child of man, though the sound now of this string, 
now of that, may preponderate, and then again of two 
together." 



104 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

There is no more important principle in pedagogy 
than this, as we are coming to reahze more clearly 
every day. If some one objects that children like to do 
destructive things , the answer is that there are plenty 
of constructive things for them to do that express 
their instinctive tendencies just as really as do the 
destructive. A boy is naturally just as much inter- 
ested in making something with tools as he is in throw- 
ing paper wads. It is the business of the teacher to 
find and furnish constructive activities that furnish 
real self-expression. That will prevent all sorts of 
trouble. It is the normal, rational way to conduct 
not only school but society as well. People need com- 
plete self-expression, not only in industry, but in the 
varied interests of a well-rounded life, if vice, crime, 
social unrest, and personal despair are to be prevented. 

Moreover, it is by self-activity that one learns most 
effectively. Education is a process of growth, and 
growth results from doing the things that one's in- 
terests prompt him to do. Mental activity is far more 
alert and successful when the learner's own purposes 
are being realized and he is finding satisfaction in the 
results than when his activity is forced. This prin- 
ciple of course condemns much of the old gradgrind 
methods of teaching, and demands the complete re- 
organization of school activities. 

Social Participation. — Social participation means 
taking part with associates in joint enterprises, such 
as playing games together, working together on team 



HERBART AND FROEBEL 105 

enterprises, or discussing a subject of mutual interest 
in a group. The following quotations illustrate Froe- 
bel's views on this subject : 

''The purpose of the Union is to accustom men to co- 
operate with each other in a conscious and mutually profit- 
able manner. Such a custom is best started in infancy, of 
course, but, if neglected at the proper time, it may still be 
produced at any subsequent time. Man should develop in 
harmony, peace, and joy within himself and with those 
around him, in accordance with human nature and destiny ; 
and this should continue through all stages of development, 
and in all the various circumstances of life, in the family and 
school, in domestic and public life." 

''It is by no means only the physical power that is 
fed and strengthened in these games ; intellectual and moral 
power, too, is definitely and steadily gained and brought 
under control. Justice, moderation, self-control, truthful- 
ness, loyalty, brotherly love, and again, strict impartiality 
— who, when he approaches a group of boys engaged in 
such games, could fail to catch the fragrance of these de- 
licious blossomings of the heart and mind, and of a firm 
will? Thus, the games directly influence and educate the 
boy for life, awaken and cultivate many civil and moral 
virtues." 

FroebeVs doctrine of social-participation completely 
reversed Kousseau's theory which discouraged the 
social grouping of children ; but it was after all in 
harmony with his fundamental principle of naturalism. 
There are two profound reasons for social participation. 
One is that education is a training for social life, and 
the only way to prepare for social relations is to practice 



106 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

in social relations. The best way to learn fair play is 
to learn to play fair. For this reason social participa- 
tion is receiving a great deal of emphasis in present- 
day pedagogical theory, the reason for this arising 
from the fact that modern society is becoming so com- 
plex and cooperative. Its success depends, theretoe, 
upon social habits and ideals being developed in the 
rising generation. The other reason for social parti- 
cipation is that it actually stimulates learning. In 
groups, what one does not think of another may, and 
each gets the benefit of the suggestions of all. Dis- 
cussion is an example that will appeal to mature stu- 
dents. Moreover, the competition and rivalries of 
group activity, while they stimulate the individual, 
also furnish motives for effort which are more than 
merely individualistic. Deeper than all that lies the 
simple fact that most of our purposes require a group 
to operate in. Let the reader make a list of the things 
he likes to do, and then cross out the ones that hermit 
life would take the joy out of. He will be surprised 
at the number ; which means that we are social beings, 
and that the learning process is a social process. Iso- 
lation takes the purpose and motive out of learning, 
and so stifles it. Teamwork and group activities, 
therefore, are favorable conditions of learning. This 
also condemns the old school methods where each 
pupil worked for the most part with and for himself, 
and mutual help was a school offense. It, too, 
demands a reorganized school. 



HERBART AND FROEBEL 107 

Froebel's Influence. — Within a generation after 
Froebel's death the kindergarten became a famihar 
institution in most Exiropean countries (except Ger- 
many !) and also in the United States. Its spread in 
Europe was largely due^ as we have seen, to the work 
of the Countess von Bulow. Most European kinder- 
gartens were established on a private basis. Their 
introduction into the United States and their incor^ 
poration within the public school system will be de- 
scribed in a later chapter. (See pages 267 to 275.) 

So will the influence of his two pedagogical princi- 
ples, self-activity and social participation. Suffice to 
say here that the dominant educational theory of the 
day, that of John Dewey and his followers, is strictly 
Froebelian in the aims and methods it advocates, 
although it has been urged that his principles were not 
derived from Froebel. Changes are rapidly occurring 
in American school practice which may at least be ex- 
plained and justified by the Froebelian philosophy, 
though it is debatable whether Froebel's influence is 
directly responsible for bringing them to pass. Among 
such innovations may be mentioned supervised play- 
ground activities, games as schoolroom devices, drama- 
tization, ^^busy work,'' clay modeling, drawing, folk 
dancing, singing, motivation, project teaching, group 
projects, student activities in high school, laboratory 
methods, domestic science, manual training, agricul- 
ture, and vocational training, besides all such experi- 
ments as those described in Dewey's ^' Schools of 



108 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC 'SCHOOL 

To-morrow.'' If the elementary teacher will consider 
each of these carefully he will discover self-activity, or 
social participation, or both, in each and every one 
of them. He will be convinced that the spirit of Froe- 
bel is still alive and rapidly transforming our educa- 
tion. There can be no more vital question for the 
teacher to ask himself every day as he plans his work 
than this : How can I make further application of the 
principles of Froebel ? 

It may be added in conclusion that there is a close 
kinship between the pedagogical theories of Froebel 
(as well as those of Rousseau) and the ideals and aims 
of democracy. In an autocratic or caste-ridden so- 
ciety education always imposes some artificial and un- 
natural restraints and requirements upon its pupils. 
In this way it forms habits of thought and action that 
tend to make the pupil submissive. But democracy 
aims to make individuals free. Therefore its educa- 
tion must bring out the selfhood of each citizen. 
Moreover, democracy is a great voluntary cooperative 
enterprise. Therefore education must give children 
practice in cooperation. Perhaps von Raumer, the 
autocratic bigot, was shrewder than he is given credit 
for being in his suppression of Froebel's kindergarten. 
Certainly those who best understand the needs of 
democracy are to-day advocating an education based 
on self-activity and social participation. 



CHAPTER VI 
THE GREAT EDUCATIONAL AWAKENING, 1835-1861 

Territorial Expansion. — The period in American 
history between 1835 and 1861 is marked off from the 
periods before and after by characteristics quite 
pecuHar to itself. In the first place it was an era of 
vast territorial accessions. Texas was annexed in 
1845^ the Oregon territory was acquired in 1846, 
Mexico ceded Cahfornia and the southwestern area in 
1848, and the Gadsden purchase occurred in 1853. 
These additions expanded the United States to its 
present continental area. 

Far more important than mere territorial expansion, 
however, was the influence of the westward move- 
ment of the population. Throughout this period the 
^^ frontier '' was constantly changing, and the con- 
ditions of frontier life which had already meant so 
much for the development of democracy were con- 
tinued for another generation. At its beginning mere 
settlement had, it is true, pressed westward to the 
Mississippi River, and somewhat beyond ; but frontier 
conditions prevailed throughout the whole country 
west of the Appalachians. At the close of the period 
that area had become a region of developed farms 
and growing cities, while the frontier had been pushed 

109 



no 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 





GREAT EDUCATIONAL AWAKENING, 1835-1861 111 



to the dry belt. The conditions of life and the stand- 
ards of living in this semi-pioneer region are described 
in the fiction of Edward Eggleston, Mark Twain, 
Bret Harte, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. 



Prairie d J Chi. 
JndependLee 



1^ 
OshkoU Mk 



A VN 1a D \A^/ ^^ ^ 



^ 



1 nyi^uoi^^'i 






Ulbanyr 










86° Longftade West 85° from Oreenwich 81 



Industrial Development. — It was also a period of 
unprecedented industrial development. This is shown 
by the growth of the cities. In 1840 there were 
forty-four towns of over 8000 population, in 1860 
there were 141. New York City was approaching 



112 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



the million mark. Railroad building progressed 
rapidly. The first successful experiments with steam 
locomotives were made in 1831. The Baltimore and 
Ohio was completed to the Cumberland River in 1835. 
By 1860, 30;000 miles had been built ; several trunk 
lines connected Chicago with the Atlantic seaboard, 
and one connected Chicago and the Gulf of Mexico. 
The country east of the Mississippi River was pretty 
well netted, especially north of the Ohio. (See map.) 
There was a similar growth in commerce and manu- 
factures, following the panic of 1837. The iron in- 
dustry flourished. The output of coal trebled between 
1840 and 1860. The invention of the sewing machine, 
and its application to the manufacture of ready-made 
clothing and shoes, revolutionized both of these im- 
portant industries, changing them from the domestic 
to the factory basis, and very greatly increasing their 
output. The growth of cotton manufacturing is 
indicated by the accompanying table.^ 



Year 


No. Spindles 


Bales Consumed 


Employees 


Exports 


1840 
1860 


2,284,631 
5,235,727 


295,000 
978,000 


72,119 
122,028 


$ 3,000,000 
11,000,000 



The protective tariff was greatly reduced, and on 
some articles practically abolished ; our infant industries 
had come of age. Inventions, such as the McCormick 
reaper, were revolutionizing farming. The telegraph 

1 From Coman's "Industrial History of the United States," p. 259. 



GREAT EDUCATIONAL AWAKENING, 1835-1861 113 

had come into general use. Gold had been discovered 
in California. The wealth of the country was quad- 
rupled, and the per capita wealth more than doubled 
between 1835 and 1861. 

Humanitarian Movements. — Territorial expansion 
and industrial development worked mighty changes 
in the life of the people. New and difficult social 
problems came with the growth of the cities and the 
rapid change from domestic to factory production. 
Easy means of transportation made it possible for 
men to move quickly from place to place as the demand 
for labor fluctuated, and the stabilizing influences of 
a relatively permanent home were greatly reduced. 
^ Some men were richer than men had ever been in the 
*Y past, but by contrast poverty and hardship became 
more clearly defined. All this fired the imagination. 
The material means of human welfare were at hand 
as never before in the world's history ; and the re- 
sources for further development seemed limitless. 
Furthermore, the American experiment in democracy 
was succeeding, and succeeding on a vastly larger 
scale than had ever been anticipated. Accordingly 
men were dreaming dreams and seeing visions of what 
American democracy might be expected to bring forth 
in the way of human happiness and welfare. Nothing 
seemed impossible. Hence it was a period of idealism, 
which expressed itself in many ways. 

A great wave of temperance reform swept over the 
country. It produced the famous Washingtonian 



114 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

Society, an organization of reformed drunkards ; 
it put prohibition laws on the statute books of most 
of the northern states, and set up total abstinence, 
instead of mere moderation, as the American 
temperance ideal. The magnitude and importance 
of this reform is hardly appreciated now, because it 
has nearly all had to be done over again during the 
past forty years ; nevertheless without that earlier 
reform as a foundation we should hardly have achieved 
the recent prohibition amendment. The needs of 
the afflicted were more clearly recognized, and steps 
were taken to make less bitter the lot of the blind and 
the deaf. The first school for the deaf was opened in 
1871 ; the first institute for the blind in 1832. Very 
important humanitarian reforms were made, too, in 
prison management and the care of the mentally 
deranged. Almost unimaginable barbarities had for- 
merly been practiced in the treatment of both prisoners 
and the insane. Howard, the Englishman, and 
Beccaria, the Italian, had advocated prison reform 
during the latter half of the eighteenth century, and 
many improvements were made in the conduct of 
prisons and insane asylums. These were phases of a 
great humanitarian movement which characterized 
the early nineteenth century, and which seems to have 
been a by-product of the rise of democracy, but it 
was doubtless influenced profoundly by the Industrial 
Revolution, the effects of which were felt in England 
and on the continent somewhat earlier than in America. 



GREAT EDUCATIONAL AWAKENING, 1835-1861 115 

Another phase of the vsame movement was the agitation 
for the aboHtion of negro slavery. This agitation 
originated with the New England clergymen and 
intellectual leaders ; it was at the focus of public dis- 
cussion for a generation ; the churches debated, and 
some of them split, over it ; and the storm eventually 
broke in the Civil War. 

Idealism. — An almost continuous revival of evan- 
gelical religion was in progress throughout the period, 
especially through the West and South. One feature 
of this was the great camp-meetings attended by tens 
of thousands. Methodist circuit riders and Baptist 
evangelists were the chief agents of this movement. 
Foreign missions became an important religious in- 
terest during this period. But perhaps the most 
significant spiritual development was the work of 
New England's great literary geniuses, — Bryant, 
Longfellow, Whittier, Lowell, and Emerson. Their 
messages were essentially humanitarian and idealistic. 

The Educational Awakening. — These movements 
were all related ; they were all manifestations of the 
same spirit. It was a period of aspiring faith in the 
possibilities of human betterment. It seemed as if 
a golden age were dawning, in which any reform 
whatever might hope to succeed. The Great Edu- 
cational Awakening was only another phase of the 
same general tendency ; the reform of education was 
but one of the reforms of the age. In particular the 
growth of democracy and the extension of the franchise 



116 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

obviously called for an extension and improvement of 
education. The immediate aim was to create an 
educational system that would be good enough to 
supply the needs of the new democracy, and that would 
be consistent with its ideals. If all citizens were to 
vote, and so determine the destinies of the republic, 
obviously they must be qualified to vote intelligently. 
If the new democratic ideals demanded, and the new 
industrial prosperity rendered possible, a new social 
equality, then new opportunity for education must ac- 
company the new estate of the masses. The laboring 
classes, especially in the cities, began to demand educa- 
tion as their right, and the new religion encouraged 
their aspirations. Philanthropists, convinced that edu- 
cation would lift the masses out of poverty and crime, 
had long been contributing to its extension (cf. pp. 
44, 56). Thus economic, social, political, and philan- 
thropic forces tended to accelerate the educational 
reform that had been gathering force for a generation. 
The Forerunners. — Viewed from the perspective 
of the present the Great Educational Awakening looks 
like the lengthened shadow of a single personality, 
that of Horace Mann. And so it was to a very great 
degree. He was by all odds the dominating per- 
sonality of the period, and was for nearly a century the 
most commanding figure in American educational 
history. But the movement had its beginnings before 
he appeared upon the scene, and Mann had his fore- 
runners. Rev. Samuel R. Hall had conducted private 



GREAT EDUCATIONAL AWAKENING, 1835-1861 117 

normal schools in New England for a quarter of a 
century and Rev. F. H. Gallaudet had urged normal 
training. Thus the way had been paved for state 
normal schools. James G. Carter deserves more credit 
than any one else for securing the passage of the bill 
that brought Mann into prominence. He also was 
influential in securing appropriations for the first 
state normal school ; and even then the measure 
would not have been passed had not Edmund Dwight 
come forward with a gift of $10^000 to the state for 
the purpose. These men prepared the way for Horace 
Mann, and secured his appointment to the secretary- 
ship of the Massachusetts Board of Education in 1837. 
Moreover, these men were themselves in no small 
degree the products of the age in which they lived. 
Numerous agencies had been preaching educational 
reform for a generation. Statesmen of vision had 
set forth the new educational ideals of democracy (see 
p. 38 ff.) ; numerous societies had been organized to 
promote the cause of educational progress. The 
educational awakening grew out of the beginnings 
that had been made in the previous period ; the line of 
demarcation is not definite ; this period is merely 
characterized by a swifter rate of progress rather than 
by entirely novel departures. 

Biographical Sketch of Horace Mann. — This great 
leader's youth was a typical case of an ambitious young 
American struggling up from poverty. His father 
died when he was thirteen, and his early life was full 



118 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



l„ 



of hardships and work too severe for him. He got 
but a few weeks' schooling each winter ; but he read 
every book in the village library^ and conceived an 
inordinate craving for knowledge. He entered Brown 
University at twenty years of age, and worked his 
way through by teaching during the winter months. 
- ^ .. Afterward he took a 

law course, was ad- 
mitted to the bar, and 
practiced law success- 
fully till he was past 
forty. During this 
time he was several 
times elected to the 
state legislature, and 
was president of the 
senate at the time he 
turned to educational 
work. 

It is an interesting 
bit of personal gossip 
to know that his wife Mary Peabody Mann, was a 
sister of Elizabeth Palmer Peabody of kindergarten 
fame (see p. 171) and of Mrs. Nathaniel Haw- 
thorne. She later wrote her husband's biography ; 
and in 1891 their son, George C. Mann, published 
his father's reports and addresses in four volumes. 

Secretary of the Board of Education. — During his 
legislative career Horace Mann was directly responsible 




Horace Mann 



GREAT EDUCATIONAL AWAKENING, 1835-1861 119 

for the passage of four important reform measures, 
the fourth of which was the act creating a State 
Board of Education. The object of this law was to 
counteract the evil effects of the degenerate district 
system by creating some central agency of supervision, 
leadership, and control. As soon as the bill was passed 
Mann was persuaded by his friends, Governor Everett 
and Edmund Dwight, to give up his law practice and 
political prospects and accept the secretaryship. This 
office corresponded to what in many states is now 
called the state superintendency. 

His decision — so momentous for American edu- 
cation — is to be explained by his own experiences, the 
idealism of the age, and the resultant philosophy of 
life that motivated him. The hard experiences of 
his youth made him crave a better opportunity for 
all children. He had a profound and sympathetic 
faith in the capacity of all human beings to become 
good, intelligent, and useful. He looked upon the 
public school as the most promising institution in 
democracy. He wrote a friend : " My law books are 
for sale. My office is to let. The bar is no longer my 
forum. I have abandoned jurisprudence, and betaken 
myself to the larger sphere of mind and morals. '^ 
This was in 1837. Very few men at that date dis- 
cerned as clearly as he the educational needs of de- 
mocracy. 

For twelve years he carried on his work of educational 
leadership with incomparable devotion and energy. 



120 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

'^ He went from one end of the state to the other, into 
large towns and obscure villages, seeking to call to- 
gether the people and waken in them an interest in 
their schools. He appealed to them with the power 
of his high-strained, impassioned eloquence. Some- 
times, after sweeping a room and building a fire in 
severe winter weather, he could get but a handful of 
people to listen to him. . . . For years he had been 
suffering in health and threatened wdth consumption, 
yet fifteen hours a day was the usual measure of the 
secretary's work. But nothing daunted him. How 
he endured the labor nobody can tell There seems 
to be the power of vitality in a lofty purpose." ^ His 
devotion is shown by the fact that at one time he even 
mortgaged his own property to help secure the estab- 
lishment of normal schools. 

He sought by all manner of means to promote the 
cause of public education. He traveled abroad to 
study European, especially German, schools. He 
marshaled the services of distinguished lawyers, clergy- 
men, college professors, and literary men to address 
the people under the new lyceum movement that had 
just been inaugurated. He lobbied skillfully and 
successfully in the state legislature for the enactment 
of better school laws, for the establishment of normal 
schools, and for appropriations of money for state aid. 
He carried on a famous debate with the organized 
Boston schoolmasters, who opposed his reforms, and 

1 Kemp's "History of Education," pp. 312 f. 



GREAT EDUCATIONAL AWAKENING, 1835-1861 121 

fairly defeated them before the jury of public opinion. 
Besides all this he wrote voluminously. 

His most important literary work consisted of his 
twelve annual reports. In these he published the 
large amount of information which he had collected 
about the actual conditions in public education. 
These reports were very widely distributed both 
in Europe and America, and were effective in- 
struments for educating the public not only of his 
own state/ but throughout the whole country, as 
to the purposes and means of public education in a 
democracy. 

Horace Mann's Reforms. — The following is a list 
of the reforms that he advocated : 

1. Better and more sanitary school buildings, with 
more hygienic equipment; 

2. Uniform textbooks ; 

3. Laws against child labor ; 

4. Compulsory attendance ; 

5. A longer school year ; 

6. The abolition of the district system and the substitu- 
tion of the township unit (this was not consummated for 
thirty years, however) ; 

7. More secondary schools, and state aid for them ; 

8. Public libraries ; 

9. State normal schools ; 

10. Teachers' institutes ; 

11. Better wages for teachers ; 

12. The employment of more women as teachers ; 

13. The addition of vocal music, history, geography, 
hygiene, and moral instruction to the course of study ; 



122 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

14. Better methods of teaching reading and spelling 
(he opposed the alphabetic and urged the word method) ; 

15. Better standards of instruction, school management, 
and discipUne. 

There is a striking similarity between these reforms 
and the reforms advocated nowadays by aggressive 
state superintendents and other educational leaders 
in almost every state. The difference is that Horace 
Mann was a pioneer. It was like the difference be- 
tween Columbus' first voyage and crossing the Atlantic 
now. But his greatness consists not only in the fact 
that he was a path breaker^ but also in the results 
that he was able to achieve. In most of these reforms 
he was remarkably successful. One million dollars 
was invested in public school buildings during his 
secretaryship ; he was able to secure an approximate 
uniformity of textbooks ; as early as 1839 the minimum 
school year was fixed at six months ; he secured the 
establishment of three state normal schools ; and also 
fathered the teachers' institute. The first compulsory 
attendance law in America was enacted in Massachusetts 
in 1852. And he secured at least some gains in al- 
most all the other reforms he advocated. It was 
largely as a result of Horace Mann's efforts that 
Massachusetts retained for more than half a century 
the position of unquestioned leadership among state 
school systems. The teachers' institutes begun by 
Mann very shortly became a conspicuous and in- 
fluential feature of the period. They were usually 



GREAT EDUCATIONAL AWAKENING, 1835-1861 123 

summer schools of perhaps two weeks' duration, con- 
ducted usually by the county superintendent, and 
devoted to the review of the '' common branches " 
and to the discussion of pedagogical problems. Though 
the usefulness of teachers' institutes is now largely 
a thing of the past because of their utter inadequacy 
under present conditions, they were a nourishing half- 
loaf in those early days when otherwise there would 
have been no pedagogical bread. 

Henry Barnard. — The significance of these agi- 
tations and reforms would be missed entirely if it were 
assumed that they were confined to Massachusetts. 
Mann's leadership, together with the spirit of the times, 
inspired the whole country to emulate his example. 
In Connecticut and Rhode Island almost exactly 
similar reforms were promoted through similar means 
by Henry Barnard, who later became a national figure 
in educational reform. (See Chap. VII, pp. 176, 178.) 

Other Sections. — The Common School Revival in 
New England may be taken as typical of what was 
going on in lesser degree all over the country. It will 
be remembered that it was not until this period that 
New York City developed a public school system 
(see p. 45). Throughout the entire period, the people 
of Pennsylvania were engaged in a struggle to bring 
their practice into line with the provisions of their 
law of 1834 (see p. 46). Some of the counties, 
especially those dominated by the German Lutherans, 
were very slow to adopt the provisions of that law, 



124 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

organize themselves into school districts^ tax them- 
selves, and accept the state aid. The last district 
did not fall into line until 1873. The West, of course, 
was handicapped by pioneer conditions ; yet relatively 
the mid-western states made commensurate progress 
also. The struggle for public schools of the New 
England type, which we saw the West begin in the 
previous period, continued throughout this period ; 
and by the time the Civil War broke out, the fight had 
been won. The social system of the South largely 
retarded her ; yet the influence of Mann and Barnard 
was considerable even there, and the advice of these 
leaders was often sought. North Carolina began 
a public school system in 1838. Other states made 
similar but less successful attempts. When the war 
broke out, the whole South was on the verge of an 
important educational awakening. The war of course 
retarded her later development (see pp. 151, 180, 310). 
Other Leaders. — It would also be a mistake to 
assume that Horace Mann was the only educational 
reformer of the period. Henry Barnard has just been 
mentioned. Thomas G. Barrows was the apostle 
in Pennsylvania of local taxation in response to the 
state aid law of 1834. Samuel Lewis and Samuel 
Galloway were the leaders in Ohio, Caleb Mills in 
Indiana, and Vivian W. Edwards in Illinois ; while 
John D. Pierce was the first state superintendent 
(1836) in Michigan. Other leaders will be mentioned 
later. As for Horace Mann himself, he was elected 



GREAT EDUCATIONAL AWAKENING, 1835-1861 125 

to Congress in 1848 as successor to John Quincy 
Adams. He served five eventful years, after which 
he accepted the presidency of a small, struggling 
college in Ohio, occupying this post until his death in 
1859. His last words are said to have been : " Man, 
God, duty ! " 

^^ Little Men." — It is most interesting to note 
that Louisa M. Alcott's ^^ Little Men " was in a 
way an attempt to popularize Pestalozzianism in 
America. The story was founded on fact, many 
of the incidents in it being taken from the experience 
of the author's father, A. Bronson Alcott, who con- 
ducted two very unique schools, one at Cheshire, 
Connecticut, and the other, the famous Temple School, 
4n Boston. Elizabeth Palmer Peabody was at one 
time associated with Alcott in his Temple School. 
These schools were managed somewhat along Pesta- 
lozzian lines. It appears, however, that Alcott was 
quite independent and original in his practices ; al- 
though later he lapsed into a mere expositor of 
Pestalozzi's method. He was reduced to that by the 
tragic failure of Americans to appreciate and patronize 
him ; his schools were private ventures, and he was 
actually driven out of business by the noisy ridicule 
of the fossil-headed Boston schoolmasters. However, 
a fascinating side-light is thrown upon the spirit of the 
New England reform by his daughter's charming story. 
Pedagogical Literature of the Period. — During the 
period between 1835 and 1861 the educators of America, 



126 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

at least those who read the professional literature, were 
made familiar with the work of Pestalozzi ; though his 
practices were not introduced into our schools until 
much later. There were several important educational 
periodicals in those days : The American Journal of 
Education, later known as The American Annals of 
Education, Mann's The Common School Journal, and 
Barnard's Connecticut Common School Journal and 
later his American Journal of Education. These all 
contained articles about Pestalozzi. Barnard wrote 
a book entitled " Pestalozzi and His Educational 
System/' which is to this day the best source of in- 
formation on that subject. The Colburn Arithmetic 
(see Chap. IV) embodied the Pestalozzian objective 
method. Lowell Mason used the Pestalozzian ana- 
lytical method in teaching vocal music in the schools 
of Boston. John Griscom of New York, Calvin E. 
Stowe of Ohio, and A. D. Bache, President of Girard 
College in Philadelphia, all published reports on 
Pestalozzi and the Prussian-Pestalozzian system. 
But the most famous of all was Horace Mann's Seventh 
Annual Report, which he published after having 
visited Europe. In it he compared our schools with 
those of Germany. At that time Germany's schools 
were far in advance of ours in governmental adminis- 
tration, internal organization, subject matter, and 
methods of teaching and discipline. Incidentally 
they were still farther ahead of British schools, which 
remained on a strictly sectarian basis till 1870. Mann's 



GREAT EDUCATIONAL AWAKENING, 1835-1861 127 

controversy with the Boston schoolmasters resulted 
largely from this report ; they were wedded to their 
old ways, and consequently resented the unfavorable 
comparison. 

Calvin Stowe and the Beginnings of Teachers' 
Associations. — The Calvin E. Stowe mentioned a 
moment ago was none other than the husband of 
Harriet Beecher Stowe, whom he married in 1836, 
while he was professor in Lane Theological Seminary 
at Cincinnati. Moreover, his book on " European 
Elementary Education " was not his only contribution 
to the Educational Awakening. He was one of the 
earliest, and, for nearly twenty years, perhaps the most 
active and influential member of what was in fact, if 
not in name, the first state teachers' association, 
namely that of Ohio. The next was that of Massa- 
chusetts. Numerous other associations of this sort 
were organized during the period under discussion ; 
and they contributed very largely to the progress of 
these times. The National Education Association 
grew out of the Massachusetts society in 1858. 

Rise of the Grading System. — The systematic grad- 
ing of elementary schools was well started during this 
period. The old-fashioned district school had its 
A, B, and C classes in each of the subjects taught. 
In the cities primary and " grammar " schools had 
been organized separately (see p. 57). During the 
first half of the century grammar schools in New 
England were usually organized on the " double- 



128 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

headed '^ system ; that is, each grammar school had 
two departments, the reading department and the 
writing department, each with its own program of 
studies ; but the division was vertical, not horizontal. 
The pupils attended these two departments on alter- 
nate half days. Meantime the primary schools were 
conducted on the ungraded plan, each in a separate, 
one-room building. The first step in the evolution 
of the graded school seems to have been to house the 
primary school in the same building with the ^^ double- 
headed'' grammar school. A sudden change occurred 
in Boston in 1848 when the Quincy school was built. 
This was a four-story building with a separate room 
for each of the twelve teachers. " The arrangement 
of this building enabled Mr. Philbrick, the principal, 
to work out the details of what, in its essential features, 
is now the typical plan of organization for city schools 
of elementary grade.'' ^ This new plan appears to 
have been perfected before 1856. In most other cities 
the grading came somewhat more slowly. In smaller 
places there were of course fewer rooms : in villages 
it was not unusual to find three ; primary, inter- 
mediate, and grammar. Thus the grading of schools 
was well started before 1861, but did not become 
general till the next period. 

There is some dispute as to whether the organization 
of American schools into eight grades was due to 
a conscious imitation of the German system. It 
1 U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin No. 8, 1916, p. 30. 



GREAT EDUCATIONAL AWAKENING, 18351861 129 

is certain that numerous writers, John Quincy Adams, 
Charles Brooks, A. D. Bache, Calvin E. Stowe, Stephen 
Olin, Horace Mann, Henry Barnard, and others, wrote 
in commendation of the German system. Leading 
American educators, including John D. Pierce of 
Michigan and John D. Philbrick of Boston, recognized 
the superiority of German education ; and the assertion 
is frequently made that German influence was 
peculiarly potent in the organization of our system. 
On the other hand, the state of Massachusetts, in 
which the German influence had the largest oppor- 
tunity to determine the organization, has had a nine- 
year elementary school until recently, while the eight- 
year standard now generally prevalent was not 
established until long after the German influence had 
subsided. 

State and County Administration. — The office of 
county superintendent came into existence during 
this period, and by its close, or soon after, was a settled 
institution in most of the states, except in New England. 
The county superintendent was usually elected by 
popular vote, was charged with the certification of 
teachers, and with a sort of advisory supervision over 
the schools of the county. This was a decided reform 
at the time, because it reduced the autonomy of the 
districts ; but the office needs to be put on a far more 
professional basis now if it is to escape utter use- 
lessness in the new conditions of to-day. The state 
superintendency was also created during this period. 



130 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

This office, together with the codification of school 
laws, was a further movement away from district 
autonomy. At the close of the period the little 
districts still existed but they were no longer entirely 
autonomous. School directors could no longer main- 
tain as bad schools as they chose. They were now 
regulated by state laws, they were supervised in some 
measure by state and county superintendents, and 
their choice of teachers was limited by county certi- 
fication. This was one of the great gains of the 
period. But we shall see later (Chap. VIII) that 
the time has now come to take another equally long 
step in advance. 

Colleges and Academies. — So far as colleges were 
concerned this was a period of steady growth but not 
of revolutionary changes. These came later. At the 
beginning of the period most of the well-known eastern 
colleges and universities had already been founded ; 
in the Middle West some of the state universities, and 
a very large number of small denominational colleges, 
were started during the period. Great credit is due 
the religious bodies for the stimulus they gave to higher 
education ; it was one of the outgrowths of the evan- 
gelism mentioned earlier in this chapter. The college 
curriculum did not change materially from that 
described at the close of the previous period. There 
was, however, a steady growth in the study of science 
and the modern languages ; and some beginnings were 
made in political science. For the most part, however, 



GREAT EDUCATIONAL AWAKENING, 1835-1861 131 

the German universities were still the goal of the 
ambitious student's hope. Medical schools had made 
a beginning in the previous period ; the first law 
schools and the first colleges of agriculture were founded 
in this. One of the most significant developments 
of this period was the woman's college, the first im- 
portant one being Mount Holyoke, established by 
Mary Lyon in 1836. Its aim was to furnish education 
of collegiate grade to women. Others were founded 
prior to 1861. 

For the academies this period was high noon.^ 
Hundreds of new ones w^ere established, especially 
in the Middle West, as private or religious enterprises, 
usually the latter. In the minds of their founders 
there was not always a clearly conceived distinction 
among academies, seminaries, colleges, and universities ; 
but notwithstanding the lack of standardization they 
furnished opportunity, stimulus, and the foundations 
of an education to thousands who without them would 
have been left intellectually destitute. By this service 
they reflected and disseminated the idealism of the time 
and made a very large contribution to American 
civilization at this particular stage of its development. 

Unfinished Business. — But while this was a period 
of progress, the student must beware of a false im- 
pression. The ideals and ends of the reformers were 
realized only in part Only in the best schools had the 
curriculum been enriched according to the standards 
1 See table, p. 59. 



132 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

set by Mann. The teaching of physiology and hygiene 
was the rare exception ; United States history, when 
taught at all, was taught only as advanced reading. 
It would probably be safe to offer a handsome reward 
for the discovery of a grandfather or grandmother who 
learned to read by the word method before the Civil 
War. The methods of instruction were still memoriter 
and formal in most schools, and reliance for discipline 
was chiefly on the birch rod, as octogenarians will 
testify. Teachers of elementary schools were too 
often ignorant, and professional training was the rare 
exception. The primary schools were still separate 
private institutions in some places ; dame schools 
sometimes performed this service ; and we still have 
a vestigial remnant of this old custom in the respon- 
sibility some mothers feel of teaching children their 
letters before sending them to school. There were 
still two short terms, one in the winter and one in the 
early summer — from which custom we inherit our 
long summer vacation. Free public schools were far 
from universal ; native-born old people can probably 
be found in almost any 'community who remember 
to have attended schools supported by tuitions or 
the contributions of a group of neighbors. The 
charity principle still prevailed in Virginia and the 
South. School support was meager. The lands 
granted by Congress for the support of public schools 
— one section in each township before 1850, and two 
afterwards — could not be entirely depended upon 



GREAT EDUCATIONAL AWAKENING, 1835-1861 133 

at the prevailing low rentals to support a good school ; 
if sold, as most of them were, the proceeds were in- 
sufficient to form an adequate endowment. Cities 
were still districted. Secondary education was rel- 
atively inaccessible as compared with opportunities 
now offered by the public high schools, and the 
percentage of illiteracy was high. 

The District School. — Even at the autbreak of the 
Civil War the nation was still largely rural, notwith- 
standing the remarkable growth the cities had made 
(see p. 109). Conditions were accordingly primitive, and 
the one-room district school will pass into history — let 
us hope, soon ! — as the typical educational institution 
of the period. It was housed in a one-story frame 
building about sixteen feet by twenty-four, designed 
on the simplest possible architectural lines. There 
were three windows on each side, and an ^^ entry '' 
or vestibule in front about eight feet square. Its 
furniture consisted of pine desks, well whittled and 
carved. In the center of the room there stood a big 
box stove with a cylindrical drum. In the front, 
a little to one side of the middle, stood the teacher^s 
desk, also made of pine boards. It had a cavernous 
interior under the lid for storing the school equipment, 
which consisted of a box of chalk, a six-inch globe 
made in halves, with the hinge broken, a register, and 
a five-inch bell with a wooden handle. Along the 
wall at the left of the teacher's desk was the recitation 
bench, made of a ten-inch pine board, with a leg at 



134 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 




"1^ 


^SM 


r^ 


i 


^m 




^^^ 






^ 




M 


^^■"' J cy 


^^fe?^^ 


^ ~ m 


^^H 


^•i 


iiy 



s 



ll 

2 Ph 




GREAT EDUCATIONAL AWAKENING, 1835^1861 135 

each end and one in the middle. The teacher's chair 
was held together with wire tightened by twisting. 
Behind the door at the teacher's right stood another 
bench on which was a rusty tin v/ater pail and a rusty 
tin dipper. The blackboard covered the entire length 
of the wall behind the teacher's desk, but was too high 
for the little children to reach without standing on 
the teacher's chair. The tallest boys could reach the 
top. It was made by painting the plaster black. If 
there were cracks and holes in the plaster one spliced 
the writing at that point. The eraser was a block of 
wood with a piece of sheepskin tacked on one side 
of it. There were no pictures on the walls. The 
south windows were curtained with muslin. 

Here gathered in summer the barefoot children of 
the district. There were the primer class ; the first, 
second, third, and sometimes the fourth, reading 
classes ; A, B, and C spelling ; A and B arithmetic ; 
and A and B geography classes. Writing was prac- 
ticed in a '' copy book," a collection of twenty-six 
ruled pages, about eight by ten inches, with a copy at 
the top of each page, and ten or twelve practice lines 
below. But each copy usually embodied some worthy 
maxim, such as : ^^ P Prac. Practice. Practice makes 
perfect, prac." 

The teacher during the summer term was a young 
woman. In the winter a man teacher was required, 
since the young men and women of the district all 
came to school. Then there was a fifth and perhaps 



136 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

a sixth reading class, and the other classes all had to be 
relettered to provide for the advanced classes, such as, 
" Ray's Third Part in Arithmetic." If all went well 
older pupils " worked through " the arithmetic during 
the winter, some for the third or fourth time. 

Recess and " nooning " were occupied with the old- 
fashioned games, indoors or out, depending upon the 
season and the weather. Of course a few minutes 
were required at noon to bolt the cold lunches from the 
dinner pails. Friday afternoon the school " spelled 
down." In many districts the schoolhouse was a 
social center where the neighborhood gathered of 
winter evenings for debating societies, singing schools, 
spelling matches with other districts, basket socials, 
or the religious revival services known as " protracted 
meetings." Many a romance has been woven around 
these social events, and many a tender sentiment 
associated with this dearly remembered institution 
is celebrated in song or verse. But the sentiments, 
however tender, have now become an obstacle to 
progress. The district school served its day and 
generation worthily, but that was the day of the ox 
cart, the flail, and the weekly newspaper. The present 
is a new age ; and the new age has no more urgent 
need than for a new rural school. 

Consolidation. — Strange as it may seem, the period 
between 1835 and 1861 had its consolidation problem, 
as we do now ; except that it was a city school problem 
then, rather than a rural school problem, as it is with 



GREAT EDUCATIONAL AWAKENING, 1835-1861 137 

US to-day. The district system had been used in the 
cities, the same as in the country (see p. 18). When a 
city grew large enough to be divided into wards for po- 
htical purposes, the wards were, if the people so elected, 
organized into school districts. Each district main- 
tained an independent, ungraded district school. 
Each ward district had its own school board, and levied 
its own taxes. As time went on, the inadequacy of 
this arrangement became evident. It permitted 
the slums of the rapidly growing cities to become 
breeding places of ignorance and crime. The first 
city superintendent of schools in the United States 
was appointed in Buffalo in 1837 to unify and supervise 
the district schools of that city, then a town of 15,000 
people. The following table ^ shows the growth of this 
movement : 

Date of First Appointment of City Superintendent 

Buffalo, N. Y 1837 New York City .... 1851 

Louisville, Ky 1837 San Francisco, Cal. . . . 1852 

Providence, R. 1 1839 Jersey City, N. J. ... 1852 

Springfield, Mass. . . . 1840 Newark, N. J 1853 

New Orleans, La. ... 1841 Brooklyn, N. Y 1853 

Rochester, N. Y 1843 Cleveland, 1853 

Columbus, 1847 Chicago, 111 1854 

Syracuse, N. Y 1848 St. Louis, Mo 1854 

Baltimore, Md 1849 St. Joseph, Mo 1854 

Cincinnati, 1850 Indianapolis, Ind. . . . 1855 

Boston, Mass 1851 Worcester, Mass 1855 

Gloucester, Mass. . . . 1851 Milwaukee, Wis 1859 

But it is interesting and significant that city con- 

soHdation was usually effected only after a vote of the 

1 From Cubberley's "Public School Administration," p. 58. 



138 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

people, preceded by a bitter fight between those who 
favored and those who opposed consoHdation — just 
as happens in rural townships now. And it is equally 
significant that, chiefly because of consolidation which 
the cities achieved so long ago, the cities have been at 
least a generation ahead of the open country in edu- 
cational progress. 

Three Principles. — Out of the agitations, debates, 
and legislative contests of the great educational 
awakening, there emerged three principles of American 
education, which were apparently settled for all time 
to come. 

1. Support by Taxation. — The first is the prin- 
ciple of support by taxation. It was well expressed 
by Horace Mann as follows : " The property of the 
commonwealth is pledged to the education of all the 
youth up to such point as will save them from poverty 
and vice, and prepare them for the adequate perform- 
ance of their social and civil duties ; and the suc- 
cessive holders of this property are trustees, bound to 
the faithful execution of their trust by the most sacred 
obligations.'^ 

The "Bachelor Argument." — This principle was of 
course bitterly contested by the wealthy taxpayer of 
the period. His objection is sometimes known as the 
" bachelor's argument " ; inasmuch as the wealthy 
man, like a bachelor, pays taxes for the education of 
other people's children. It shows what immature 
ideas of democracy were then entertained. Un- 



GREAT EDUCATIONAL AWAKENING, 1885-1861 139 

fortunately, they are not entirely discarded yet. 
These objectors apparently assumed that democracy 
means privilege ; they did not recognize that it means 
responsibility also. They were extreme individualists, 
too ; they did not recognize the principle of social 
soHdarity, upon which democracy depends ; which 
means that the welfare of each is dependent upon the 
welfare of all. We all understand now, as only the 
wisest leaders did then, that the success of democracy 
depends upon the education of all. Democracy dare 
not permit children to grow up in ignorance just 
because their parents happen to be too poor to pay 
tuition for them. Such ignorant children are liable 
later to become a menace to the whole body politic. 
They must be educated ; if their parents are too poor 
to do it, then their education must be paid for by tax- 
payers who do have the financial ability. This is the 
same principle by which a democracy requires, and 
justly, that its young men of greatest physical ability 
fight its battles. This nation answered the " bachelor 
argument" once for all in the debates, like those in 
Pennsylvania, of this period. It still remains, however, 
to make further application in our own day of the 
principle of financial obligation decided upon then. 
It may not prove sufficient now to furnish free tuition 
only. In order to assure all citizens sufficient education 
to prepare them for citizenship, it may prove necessary 
to-day to furnish them free books, free transportation, 
free noon meals, and even free school uniforms. 



140 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

Indeed we must apply the principle still further. 
In the debates referred to above our young democracy 
decided that families may not be left in ignorance 
because of their poverty. We are now beginning to 
see that neighborhoods cannot with safety to the body 
politic be similarly neglected. The state as a whole 
must assume the responsibility of equalizing educational 
opportunities throughout the state. Further : the 
poorer states of the Union must not be permitted to 
remain centers of ignorance ; the wealth of the whole 
nation, wherever its owners reside, must be put at the 
disposal of the Federal government for the equali- 
zation of educational opportunities throughout the 
length and breadth of the land. The " bachelor 
argument" of wealthy states must not be allowed to 
prevent sufficient Federal aid. All this was being 
settled in principle as far back as the period between 
1835 and 1861. It only remains now to make further 
quite consistent and clearly needed applications of the 
same principle. However, it is to be expected that 
the wealthy will still contest its extension. 

2. Secular Control. — The second principle is that 
of secular control. The dominant institution of 
modern society is the state, not the church ; the aim 
of education is primarily civic, not religious ; and 
therefore the control of education by the state cannot 
be interfered with. Church control of schools would 
mean as many different kinds of schools as there are 
sects ; and the unity necessary to a great democracy 



GREAT EDUCATIONAL AWAKENING, 1835-1861 141 

like ours would be utterly impossible. Such chaos 
would eventuate if patrons of parochial schools were 
excused from the support of public schools, or if 
public-school funds were disbursed to parochial schools. 
This principle was settled once for all in the debates 
of Horace Mann and his contemporaries. 

The ''Godless Schools" Argument.— The '' Godless 
schools" argument was first urged against the reforms 
of Horace Mann by the conservative Congregational- 
ists, and those of kindred faith, in Massachusetts. 
They contended that the development of free public 
schools was an attempt to eliminate the Bible from 
education, and to set the school against the church. 
This was one of the bitterest fights of Mann's career. 
The qoiestion came up again in New York City when 
the Baptist and Catholic churches demanded the same 
benefit from local taxes that the Free School Society 
was receiving (see p. 45). The Catholics carried the 
fight to the state legislature, with the result that not 
only were the sects denied subsidies but the society 
as well. And among the most bitter opponents of the 
Pennsylvania law of 1834 were the German Lutherans, 
as we have seen (see p. 47). It was due largely to 
their conservatism that the state was so slow in coming 
to the new basis. 

3. State and County Supervision. — The third prin- 
ciple involved curbing the independence of the local 
districts. Gradually the districts came under the 
control of authorities higher up. County and state 



142 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



superintendents of education were created ; and the 
districts became less and less a law unto themselves. 
The rise of the city superintendency has been referred 
to (p. 137) ; the accompanying table shows the growth 

that county and state su- 
perintendency had made 
by 1861. 

The ''Local Self-Gov- 
ernment'' Objection. — 
The chief argument 
against this centralizing 
tendency was the '^ local 
self-government " slogan. 
Local self-government was 
regarded by our early 
statesmen as a cardinal 
principle of civil liberty. 
But they pushed it to ex- 
tremes. The success of 
any society, especially of 
a great democracy, de- 
pends upon a community 
of interest. There must 
be a unity of ideals and 
opinions, otherwise there can be no harmony of action. 
If localities or classes have discordant interests there 
will be friction. A degenerate class, group, or locality 
becomes a menace to the whole. We learned this 
lesson anew from our experience during the World War 



The Extent op 


County 


State 


State and County 


School 


School 


Supervision in 1861 


Officer 


Officer 


Alabama . . . 


V 


V 


Arkansas . . . 


V 




California . . . 


V 


V 


Illinois .... 


V 


V 


Indiana ... 




V 


Iowa .... 


V 


V 


Kansas. . . . 


V 


V 


Kentucky . . . 




V 


Louisiana . . . 




V 


Maine : . . . 




V 


Massachusetts . 




V 


Michigan . 




V 


Missouri . . . 


V 


V 


New Hampshire 


V 




New Jersey . . 




V 


New York . . 


V 


V 


North Carolina . 




V 


Ohio . . . . 


V 


V 


Pennsylvania 


V 


V 


Rhode Island 




V 


Texas . . . . 




V 


Utah . . . . 




V 


Vermont . . . 




V 


Wisconsin 


1 


V 



GREAT EDUCATIONAL AWAKENING, 1835-1861 143 

when we found that un-American elements in our 
population were a source of serious trouble. 

Since education is the great unifier^ it follows that 
no group or locality can be permitted to have as poor 
schools as it happens to desire. Each must be brought 
up to standards by some central authority. Complete 
local autonomy is inimical to the unity upon which 
democracy depends. This our fathers gradually came 
to see ; and especially as the railroad and the tele- 
graph increased facilities for communication and made 
the tiny communities of the older day things of the 
past. Hence the gradual rise of county and state 
supervision. 

Solidarity. — The reader will observe that these 
three principles are fundamentally one^ namely, like- 
mindedness is necessary to democracy. The good of 
all is bound up with the good of each ; and social 
solidarity is menaced by discordant diversities. The 
fundamentals of democratic civilization must become 
the mental possession of each citizen. Our forefathers 
saw that neither poverty nor religion nor location 
could be allowed to interfere with the American school's 
task of producing like-mindedness. 

Instead of arguing out again the principles which 
they settled we must push much farther the general 
principle of producing like-mindedness through our 
schools. Diversities among us tend to increase under 
modern conditions. Our people represent a great 
variety of races, languages, traditions, religions, 



144 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

vocations^ standards of living, moral ideals, social 
theories, and political views. Sectional interests are 
almost as various as they ever were. Employers, la- 
borers, and the public are set over against one another. 
There are centers of un-American, even anti-American, 
influence. If these diverse elements are to be fused 
together into a harmonious American citizenry, there 
must be a great increase in the schooling that is com- 
mon to all. To get this, we shall have to have more 
centralization ; that is, more control and support from 
state and Federal governments. This centralizing 
tendency has been developing ever since 1861 (pp. 177, 
208-215), but it must be carried still further. To those 
in whose minds local self-government is still a fetish, 
the mere word ''centralization" is an argument. To 
those who understand the lessons of history, it is only 
a word. Persons and classes who have sectarian, 
financial, or other selfish reasons for opposing national 
unity cry " centralization" with hypocritical gestures 
of alarm. But teachers at least should understand the 
lessons of history (see pp. 313, 322). 

Foreign Education. — There was no such great 
educational awakening in Europe during this period, 
except in Norway, where a system of public elementary 
schools, supported by the public authorities, w^as 
established during the third decade of the century. 
Germany invented her continuation school (see 
Chap. IV, p. 72), to supplement the limited edu- 
cation of the peasants. It is based on the assumption 



GREAT EDUCATIONAL AWAKENING, 1835-1861 145 

that the laboring classes have no claim to secondary 
and higher education of the cultural type ; an assump- 
tion that we must be very careful not to copy here 
in America. It will not serve the needs of democracy 
to import a half-loaf, part-time school for " those 
who have to leave school early." They must not be 
permitted to leave school early — not in America ! 
England began government grants to, and inspection 
of, her parochial and private {i.e. 'Voluntary") 
schools ; but she made no further movement toward 
a real public system. In France an abortive effort 
was made, under Guizot, to establish a system of 
elementary schools (1833) ; but the reactionary laws 
of the Second Empire undid (1850) what had been 
accomplished. Democratic education was making 
slow headway in Europe ! 



CHAPTER VII 

THE TRANSITION PERIOD, 1801-1890 

The events of the thirty-year period just following 
the Civil War could not possibly have been under- 
stood by the generation that participated in them. 
Even now they can be understood only by those who 
foresee what the social order is to be into which the 
world is now about to enter; certain features of which 
we shall attempt to sketch in our closing chapter. It 
was a period when future events were casting their 
shadows before them ; and men^ without knowing it, 
were laying the foundations of new institutions that 
they could not anticipate. 

Industrial Development. — It was a period of amaz- 
ing industrial advancement. Railroad mileage was 
increased to 163,000 miles. The United States began 
pushing rapidly forward toward the place of primacy 
that she now occupies in all sorts of manufactured 
products. By 1890 the free land of the west was 
practically all occupied, and settlement was pushing 
into the dry belt. Although rented farms were as 
yet relatively few, nevertheless tenancy and absentee 
landlordism, fundamental problems to-day, were be- 
ginning to appear. Immigration from Europe was 

146 



THE TRANSITION PERIOD, 1861-1890 147 

assuming sufficient proportions to attract attention 
and arouse misgivings. Because of the growth of 
manufacturing and transportation American cities 
made a remarkable development during the period. 
Speculation in land, stocks, and commodities may 
be said to have begun. The complex problems of 
money and credit forced themselves upon Congress. 
The telephone was invented and rapidly grew in 
popularity. Medical science made rapid strides and 
scores of new inventions contributed to the comforts of 
life and to the economy of time. 

The first great trusts and business combinations ap- 
peared then. Mr. Rockefeller built up the oil business 
during and just after the war, and the Standard Oil 
Company was organized in 1882. ]\lr. Carnegie was 
similarly laying foundations in the steel business. It 
was the period of cutthroat railroad competition, 
which, before 1890, resulted in the inevitable pools 
and combinations to check it. Sugar, tobacco, 
whisky, salt, and other industries were drifting in the 
same general direction. Students of economics now 
understand that all this industrial combination was 
the inevitable result of large scale industry, which the 
steam engine and other inventions had made necessary. 
Some of these industries, notably steel and railroads, 
were, for this reason, foreordained monopolies, just 
because they involved large investments. 

Labor as well as capital was beginning to organize ; 
the American Federation of Labor appeared in 1881, 



148 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

and soon had a million members. Nearly 10,000 
strikes are recorded in the last ten years of this period. 
The farmers of the west and northwest, in the stress 
of their transition from wheat to diversified farming, 
produced first the Granger movement of Iowa, Wis- 
consin, and Minnesota, and then the Populist organi- 
zations of Kansas and Nebraska. Other movements, 
such as the Greenback Party, reflected this general 
tendency of organized protest against existing con- 
ditions. 

The statesmen of the period were of course blankly 
ignorant of the new economic forces with which they 
were dealing, and hence utterly without foresight as 
to the outcome of the events they were witnessing. 
They busied themselves with enacting laws against 
such combinations — the Interstate Commerce Act 
of 1887 and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890. 
These laws ^^ roared at them [the trusts] likfe any 
turtle dove/' Meantime^ without letting their left 
hands know what their right hands were doing, the}^ 
nursed the ^^ infant industries" on the high tariff, 
which protected them from foreign competition. This 
policy tempted and incited people of selfish aims 
to exert increasingly that invisible influence at Wash- 
ington, against which we wonder now that the very 
stones did not cry out. But the public eyes were 
holden then, and almost another generation elapsed 
before the ^^ era of exposure" began. To us the events 
of that period mean that there was just taking form 



THE TRANSITION PERIOD, 1861-1890 149 

the great new world in which we are now Hving, with 
its vast industrial organization^ its fearsome economic 
and political problems, and its social classes glaring 
at each other with lowering visages. If our sons 
succeed in solving these problems they will be able to 
understand that germinal period better than our 
fathers possibly could, even though they lived right 
through it themselves. But our sons will not solve 
those problems without a great deal of information 
that our fathers had no opportunity to acquire. 

Moral and Religious Changes. — It was a period of 
equally significant changes in the spiritual aspects of 
American life. Moral ideals and religious beliefs 
were changing. A reaction occurred in the temperance 
reform. There were several reasons for this. In the 
first place war usually has a tendency to break down 
the restraints of vice. In the second place, an internal 
revenue tax was imposed on alcoholic beverages, and 
this policy protected the distilling and brewing interests 
against popular attack. In the third place, there 
occurred a great wave of immigration from Europe 
where no reform had occurred. As a result the gains 
previously made in temperance sentiment were lost, 
temporarily at least. 

The era was also one of unscrupulous political 
practices. The reconstruction problems were handled 
in such a way as to insure the victory at the polls 
of the party in power ; but with very little effort to 
devise a just and wise treatment of the reorganized 



150 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

South. Business interests used improper methods 
of securing tariff benefits from Congress. 

In the field of religion doubt and skepticism grew 
rapidly. The doctrine of evolution began to reach 
the thinking classes generally, as did also the scientific 
method of studying the Bible. Questions were raised 
that the old theology could not answer. At the same 
time popular agnosticism produced such spokesmen 
as Robert Ingersoll. The conflict between science 
and religion was soon on in full blast. The result was 
that some of the old religious doctrines were taken 
seriously by a constantly declining percentage of the 
people. Hence the religious revival of an earlier 
generation gradually dwindled till the old evangelism 
lost much of its former power and influence. Few 
could then foresee that the stage was being cleared for 
a new religious life full of zeal to apply the Golden 
Rule to business, politics, and international relations. 
Foreign missions were growing phenomenally — the 
missionaries were unconsciously preparing the w^ay for 
international brotherhood. 

Writers also had taken up new themes ; the idealism 
of the earlier period was wanting ; literature consisted 
chiefly of fiction which described the life of the people 
in various parts of the country. It was like a boy at 
that stage of his development when he is exploring the 
environment in which he lives ; by itsaid Americans were 
getting acquainted with other parts of their country 
and with the people who lived there. Only exceptional 



THE TRANSITION PERIOD, 1861-1890 151 

writers foresaw that social problems were arising with 
the new prosperity. Thus on its spiritual sides life 
was filling up with questions hard to answer. The 
desire for answers created a demand for more knowl- 
edge, for only by knowledge can the deep questions 
of life be answered. 

The South. — The South entered upon the period 
crushed by the war. Its resources were exhausted, 
its industry entirely dislocated, and its social system 
disorganized. The Herculean task of the period may 
be summed up in the word, Reconstruction. By 1890 
this task was fairly accomplished ; and the New South 
had emerged. Agriculture had achieved a new footing ; 
modern industrialism was beginning to appear in such 
typical forms as iron manufacture in Birmingham 
and cotton mills in South Carolina. Society had been 
successfully reorganized, and a distinctive literature 
produced. 

Educational Readjustments. — If there has ever 
been anything in American history that may be thought 
of as providential it is the way our fathers laid out the 
foundations of a new education the ultimate need for 
which they could not foresee. We are now confronted 
with the most serious social problems. Ours is an er^. 
of crises. If the problems of the vast social reorgan- 
ization we are just entering are ever to be solved, and 
if the new era is to fulfill its promises, that consum- 
marion will depend more upon universal liberal edu- 
cation than upon any other single factor, — more 



152 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

perhaps than upon all other factors combined. As 
if our fathers " unconsciously realized '' that need in 
advance, they made the excavations and built up the 
foundations for the new types of educational in- 
stitutions without which orderly social readjustment 
and progress in the present crises would be hopeless. 
This foundation and the story of its laying we shall 
now sketch. 

The Rise of the High School. — Perhaps the most 
important educational necessity of the new era will 
be universal secondary education. Our civilization 
has now become so complex, so many vocations require 
special skill and knowledge, and we are perplexed by 
so many questions, public and private, political and 
social, industrial and spiritual, that liberal education 
is necessary for everybody. High school education 
is the ^' minimum essential, ^^ for citizenship. Now it 
was in the period under discussion in this chapter that 
the foundations of the American high school were laid. 
The old academies, which still persisted, of course, 
were private institutions somewhat akin to the 
secondary schools of Europe, especially of Germany, 
where it was practically impossible for children of the 
common people to enter them. American academies 
almost invariably charged tuition ; and they were so 
few that attendance at them usually involved the 
additional expense of boarding away from home. 
The high schools were destined to remove these 
obstacles, and to furnish free secondary education 



THE TRANSITION PERIOD, 1861-1890 153 

at the pupil's very door. This was to be something 
new under the sun, a sheer innovation on the part of 
democracy. There were few such institutions before 
the Civil War, although the movement began as far 
back as 1821, with the establishment of a public high 
school in Boston. In 1870 the number of public high 
schools had increased to 160, by 1880 there were 
nearly 800, in 1890, 2800. The rate of increase has 
continued, and the end has not yet been reached. 
But the point is that this was the time of beginnings. 

Typical Curriculums. — The curriculums of the early 
high schools followed closely the ^^ finishing " rather 
than the " fitting " programs of the academies. This 
means that the high schools for a long time were not 
primarily preparatory schools for the colleges, but 
rather schools which emphasized a practical prepara- 
tion for life. The following program of the Roxbury, 
Massachusetts, High School in 1872 shows that this 
tendency persisted for a half century after the estab- 
lishment of the first high school : 

First Year 

1. Review of preparatory studies. 

2. English Literature, including Biography, History, etc. 

3. Composition, including Penmanship and Punctuation. 

4. Reading and Declamation. 

5. Natural Science, — Mineralogy and Natural History. 

6. Physical Geography. 

7. Algebra, — Sherwin's. 

8. Commercial Arithmetic. 



154 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

9. French (Grammar, Translation, and Conversation). 

10. Drawing. 

11. Vocal Music. 

12. Military Drill and Calisthenics. 

13. Latin (elective). 

Second Yeak 

Numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 of the above list continued. 

14. Physiology with Intellectual and Moral Philosophy. 

15. Geometry. 

16. Rhetoric. 

17. Bookkeeping. 

Third Year 

Numbers 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16 of the above lists con- 
tinued. 

18. Natural Philosophy. 

19. Astronomy (with practical study of the heavens). 

20. Trigonometry with its applications. 

21. Botany. 

22. Constitution of the United States. 

23. Navigation. 

Fourth Year 

1. Mental Philosophy. 

2. Chemistry. 

3. Geology. 

4. French. 

Pupils entered this school as early as the age of 
twelve, after passing satisfactory examinations in 
spelling, reading, writing, English grammar, arith- 
metic, modern geography, and history of the United 



THE TRANSITION PERIOD, 1861-1890 155 



States. From the announcement one would gather 
that it was the exception for pupils to remai4 after 
completing the third year. 

This Roxbury course of study may be taken as a 
sample of one of the most progressive high schools of 
the times. On the other hand the high school of 
a small middle-west village, in the later eighties, had 
a program the first two years of which consisted of the 
'^ common branches/' including civil government and 
bookkeeping ; and the last two years, of the following 
subjects, each running through the entire year. 

Third Year Fourth Year 

Algebra Geometry 

Rhetoric Literature 

Physical Geography General History 

Natural Philosophy Botany 

These subjects were taught with the most careful 
attention to detail, however ; and a genuine reference 
was inculcated for morality, religion, sincerity, thor- 
oughness, industry, knowledge, literature, patriotism, 
and the best American traditions. 

Enrichment of the Elementary Curriculum. — The 
growth of the high school was significant chiefly because 
it provided larger opportunities for the common people. 
It pointed forward to the time when all the people 
should be liberally educated. But there was another 
movement that pointed in the same general direction ; 
namely, the enrichment of the elementarv curriculum. 



156 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

Something more than the '^ three R's" was henceforth 
to be the program of the people's schools. 

The first new subject to be added was history. 
Long before the Civil War United States history was 
taught in many elementary schools ; but it was during 
and immediately after the war that it came into general 
use as a means of stimulating patriotism and loyalty to 
the Union. This marked a distinct stage in the de- 
velopment of training for citizenship. The practice of 
using a history text as a reading book gradually passed 
away, and the meager outlines of United States his- 
tory became established in the upper grades. iVnother 
distinct stage in civic education came toward the close 
of the period with the introduction of civil government. 
It was felt that candidates for citizenship should under- 
stand the machinery of the government they were to 
live under and help operate. At present we are taking 
another equally distinct step toward recognizing that 
young people will presently have to vote and help 
formulate public opinion and that in consequence they 
must be educated to understand economic and social 
problems. 

Physiology was introduced during the Transi- 
tion period as were also nature study and draw- 
ing, both of which came partly as a result of the 
Pestalozzian influence. In fact physiology grew out 
of nature study as developed by Sheldon. (See p. 167.) 

Instruction in the fundainentals of music also be- 
came quite common. 



THE TRANSITION PERIOD, 1861-1890 157 

Manual training originated in Finland and Sweden, 
where it was called " sloyd." The originators of 
sloyd were directly indebted to Froebel for their idea ; 
so that our inanual training is strictly Froebelian, not 
Pestalozzian^ in its origin and theory. Sloyd was 
exhibited at the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia 
in 1876, and was thence introduced into our schools. 
Prior to 1890, however, it was adopted into only a few 
of our most progressive institutions. 

The teaching of bookkeeping, shorthand, typewriting, 
and other so-called commercial subjects was mostly 
conducted by private enterprise. Numerous ^' colleges " 
of this character were started during the period. The 
rudiments of bookkeeping were usually taught in public 
high schools, but not till long after did these schools 
enter the field occupied by the private business colleges. 

Closely related to the enrichment of the elementary 
curriculum was the introduction of Pestalozzian 
methods, inasmuch as the Pestalozzian object teaching 
brought in a '^ wealth of work with Nature, the study 
of plants, animals, soils, minerals, the air we breathe, 
and the water we drink, the color exercises and form 
studies, the manual training and physical culture, which 
form the main features of progressive schools all over the 
land to-day." The discussion of Pestalozzi^s influence 
in America comes more logically later (pp. 166, 233). 

The Grading System. — Still another closely related 
improvement in elementary education was the grading 
of schools, which was completed and universalized 



158 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

during the Transition period. Indeed, it was carried 
to extremes. The object, of course, was to increase 
the size and so reduce the number of classes. Some- 
thing of this sort had to be done if schoohng was to be 
furnished free to all. It was also designed to secure 
the administrative harmony and convenience that 
would arise from having class groups alike in all 
subjects. Besides it had the appearance of order and 
simplicity — a fallacy which pedagogues are wont to 
wreck upon. As a matter of fact nothing human is 
simple and uncompounded. School grading as de- 
veloped in the last third of the nineteenth century was 
unquestionably a net gain, indeed a necessity to 
democratic education ; but we now realize that it can 
be overdone ; and that, like the Lancasterian system 
three quarters of a century earlier, it often sacrifices 
the human spirit to mere mechanics. In the one-room 
rural school grading is reduced to sheer absurdity, for 
there it actually increases rather than reduces the 
number of classes, and so imposes upon the teacher 
a daily schedule that is utterly impossible. 

So much for the enrichment of elementary and 
secondary education. The enlarged foundations of 
the new education appear also in the extension and 
enrichment of higher learning. 

The Demand for Science Teaching. — There was 
a steady but no revolutionary growth in the number 
and size of colleges ; the radical change in higher 
education during this period was in the extension of 



THE TRANSITION PERIOD, 1861-1890 159 

science teaching. This resulted from causes the most 
important of which was the multipUcation of scientific 
discoveries and the practical applications of them to 
the arts of life and industry. Graves summarizes this 
development as follows : 

"The invention of the cotton gin (1792), the reaping 
machine (1834), the vulcanization of rubber (1837), the 
sewing machine (1846), the cylinder printing press (1847), 
and the typewriter (1868) greatly reduced the cost of labor, 
increased the amount of production, and made new industries 
possible. By the use of anthracite (1812), the introduction 
of friction matches (1837), and illumination through pe- 
troleum (1853), and incandescent electricity (1879), the 
conveniences and comforts of life were greatly enlarged. 
The steamboat (1807), improved by the screw propeller 
(1839) and the steam turbine (1884), and the locomotive 
(1830) linked all parts of the world together. The tele- 
graph (1837), the submarine cable (1842), the telephone 
(1876), and wireless telegraphy (1897) made com^munica- 
tion between all places almost instantaneous. Warfare be- 
came infinitely more destructive and unprofitable through 
such inventions as the Gatling gun (1861) and smokeless 
powder (1895). The invention of the stethoscope (1819), 
the production of anaesthesia through the medium of nitrous 
oxide (1844), sulphuric ether (1846), and chloroform (1847), 
the perfection of antiseptic surgery (1867), and the discovery 
of inoculations for hydrophobia (1885), tetanus (1892), 
diphtheria (1892), and other diseases contributed largely 
to the progress of humanity." 

All these inventions and discoveries made the study 
of science in modern schools absolutely necessary, and 
therefore inevitable. 



160 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

Spencer's Famous Essay. — However, the attention 
of thoughtful people was focused upon this necessity 
through a now famous essay by Herbert Spencer, the 
great English philosopher. The title of the essay was 
^' What Knowledge is of Most Worth " ; and it appeared 
in 1861. Spencer began, as all such studies must, by 
stating the aim of education. Complete living was his 
answer to the problem ; which meant living in such 
a way as to satisfy all the various needs inherent in 
human nature. Complete living, he went on to show, 
involves five different sorts of activities, which he 
specified as follows : 

1. Those activities which directly minister to self- 
preservation ; 

2. Those activities which, by securing the necessaries 
of life, indirectly minister to self-preservation ; 

3. Those activities which have for their end the 
rearing and discipline of offspring ; 

4. Those activities which are involved in the main- 
tenance of proper social and political relations ; 

5. Those miscellaneous activities which make up the 
leisure part of life, devoted to the gratification of the 
tastes and feelings. 

As preparation for these five sorts of activities the 
following sciences are required, respectively : 

1. Physiology. 

2. Mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and 
sociology. 

3. Physiology, psychology, and ethics. 



THE TRANSITION PERIOD, 1861-1890 161 

4. History, in its political, economic, and social 
aspects. 

5. Physiology, mechanics, psychology, as a basis 
for art, music, and poetry. 

The inference from this analysis is obvious : — if the 
schools are to prepare for complete living they must 
teach all the subjects necessary to complete living. 
This analysis has not outlined its usefulness. In 
particular, Spencer's statement of the aim of education 
is better than the statements of aim too often found in 
current theories. 

Others, especially Huxley, published similar essays 
at about the same time, but none were so influential 
as Spencer's. 

The Elective System. — But the chief obstacle that 
confronted the advocates of science teaching was the 
fact that programs of study, in both secondary schools 
and colleges, were so largely made up of required 
subjects. Some beginnings were made in the elective 
system prior to this period ; but the greatest impetus 
was given to it when President Eliot, at Harvard, 
introduced complete freedom of electives in 1869. 
This was found to be too radical a measure, and has 
had to be somewhat modified since. However, Har- 
vard's example was widely imitated, with the result 
that the doors were thrown wide open to scientific 
subjects, which have since gained the ascendancy 
almost everywhere. 

The real value of these changes was not only in the 



162 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

introduction of the sciences but in the breaking down 
of the old classical requirements. However much good 
there was in the study of Greek and Latin, there was 
no little harm also. Too often the result of requiring 
the dead languages was to keep students' faces turned 
toward the past, and so prevent their studying the 
problems of the age in which they lived. The vast 
majority of supposedly well educated people now living 
who have reached or passed middle life are shamefully 
ignorant of economics and sociology. Hence they 
are either blind to the existence of social problems or 
else they are stubborn reactionaries. Being college 
graduates they are looked up to as intellectual leaders ; 
but their ignorance is a very serious obstacle to progress. 
The recognition of the natural sciences as worthy 
elements of a college education opened the way to a 
fairly complete modernization of the entire program 
of studies, — elementary, secondary, and advanced, — 
upon which we have so far proceeded. Without this 
modernization of subject matter, public education 
would be utterly inadequate to the needs of democracy 
in the complex environment of to-day and to-morrow. 

Teaching Agriculture. — One of the very significant 
developments of the Transition Period was the rise of 
scientific agriculture. This had its beginnings in the 
first half of the nineteenth century. The first of the 
state agricultural colleges (that of Michigan) was 
opened in 1857. The great impetus to the develop- 
ment of these institutions, however, was furnished by 



THE TRANSITION PERIOD, 1861-1890 163 

the famous Morrill Act of 1862, which appropriated 
to the states large grants of land for the promotion of 
education in agriculture, the mechanical arts, and the 
natural sciences. The agricultural college movement, 
stimulated by those generous national bounties, spread 
rapidly, and every state now has one or more in- 
stitutions of this type, which, because of their origin, 
are often spoken of as the ^^ Land-Grant colleges." 
The Second Morrill Act, passed in 1890, appropriat- 
ing a continuing money-grant to each state for its 
agricultural college, and other subsequent appro- 
priations have greatly increased the resources of these 
institutions. In 1885 Congress passed the Hatch 
Act, which provided for the establishment of agricul- 
tural '' experiment stations " in connection with the 
colleges, and thus promoted the research and investiga- 
tion necessary to build up a sound body of knowledge 
concerning the important art of agriculture. 

The Learned Professions. — Marked advancement 
was made during this period in professionalizing the 
professions. During the first three quarters of the 
nineteenth century it was still customary to learn both 
medicine and law, but especially the latter, by the 
apprentice method, and outside of New England even 
educated clergymen were rare. Boone mentions only 
six law schools prior to 1850, but suggests that there 
may have been a dozen in all. " Within the next ten 
years the number of institutions had doubled ; in 1872 
there were thirty schools, reporting two thousand 



164 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

students " ; and by 1890 the apprentice method of 
preparation was largely discredited. The period of 
industrial expansion following the Civil War gave rise 
to a new profession, namely engineering. The follow- 
ing list of institutions, with the dates of their founding, 
wdll indicate the growth of this new line of education. 
1824 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, New 
York), 

1847 Lawrence Scientific School (Harvard), 
1847 Sheffield Scientific School (Yale), 
1861 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 
Boston, Massachusetts, 

1865 Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, 
Massachusetts, 

1866 Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 
1874 Towne Scientific School, University of Penn- 
sylvania, 

1880 Case School of Applied Science, Cleveland, 
Ohio, 

1883 Rose Polytechnic, Terre Haute, Indiana, 

1889 Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, Brooklyn, 
New York. 

Professionalizing Teaching. — Considerable advance 
was also made in the matter of putting teaching on a 
professional basis. Most of the modern state normal 
schools, except, of course, in the newer states, were 
founded either just before or during this period. The 
first permanent college chair in education was estab- 
lished at the University of Iowa in 1873, and was 



THE TRANSITION PERIOD, 1861-1890 165 

occupied by Rev. S. N. Fellows. Boone, writing in 
1889, states that seven similar ones had since then 
been started, at Wisconsin, North Carolina, Johns 
Hopkins, Ottawa, Kansas, Indiana, Cornell, and the 
College of the City of New York. But the number of 
teachers who availed themselves of these advantages, 
either in colleges or normal schools, was relatively 
small. Certification requirements were low. As late 
as 1894 a teacher's examination in Iowa consisted of 
a few easy questions on the ^^ common branches.'' 
No knowledge of pedagogy was expected. As a speaker 
said at the Minneapolis meeting of the National 
Education Association, in 1872, " The vast majority 
of teachers have not even the aid of an occasional 
swelter in an August vacation-school institute : too 
often only an educational picnic." 

Beginnings of the Science of Education. — Never- 
theless the foundations for a science of education were 
being laid. Wundt, at the University of Leipzig, 
founded the first psychological laboratory in 1878, 
and its influence reached America within the next 
decade. Psychology was taught in many of the leading 
colleges, but the less progressive schools still held to its 
metaphysical prototype, '' mental philosophy." Ladd, 
of Yale, published his " Principles of Physiological 
Psychology " in 1887 ; James's " Principles of Psy- 
chology " in two volumes appeared in 1890. G. Stanley 
Hall was already teaching psychology and child study 
at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, during the 



166 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

eighties, though his important pubhcations did not 
appear till later. Perhaps the most influential, if not 
the most scientific, exponent of psychology during the 
period was William T. Harris. Harris was a profound 
student of history and literature, but especially of 
philosophy. He brought his knowledge and his keen 
insight to bear upon an educational theory, which he 

not only evolved but ap- 
plied to all his work. He 
was for many years Su- 
perintendent of Schools 
in St. Louis, and the 
annual reports that he 
prepared were undoubt- 
edly the most important 
educational publications 
of that time. He later 

William T. Harris 

became Federal Com- 
missioner of Education. Lester F. Ward's '^ Dynamic 
Sociology " appeared in 1887 ; but his remarkable 
theories as to the social function of education have 
received but little attention on the part of educators 
until very recently. 

Pestalozzianism : E. A. Sheldon. — What Professor 
Parker declares to be the most important step during 
this period in the development of better methods in 
elementary education was the introduction of Pesta- 
lozzianism into the Normal School at Oswego, New 
York. Edward A. Sheldon, who was responsible for 




THE TRANSITION PERIOD, 1861-1890 



167 



this movement, was himself a man of Pestalozzian 
temperament. In 1848 he organized a " ragged 
school " for poor children. Later he became super- 
intendent of the public schools of Oswego. In 1861 
he organized the training class for teachers in the 
Oswego schools and in 1863 it became a state Normal 
School. In his efforts 
to introduce Pestaloz- 
zian methods Sheldon 
imported two teachers 
from Europe, Miss Mar- 
garet E. M. Jones, who 
had taught in an Eng- 
lish Pestalozzian school, 
and Hermann Krtisi, 
Jr., a son of one of 
Pestalozzi's assistants. 
He also gathered about 
him a group of strong 
personalities capable of 
appreciating and ex- 
emphfying the Pestalozzian ideals and methods, and of 
imparting to their students a zealous enthusiasm for 
education. His remarkable leadership may be judged 
from the fact that the assistants he imported from 
Europe were brought- with the permission of his board 
on condition that they would not cost the city a dollar ; 
whereupon his teachers subscribed to their support, in 
some instances to the half of their salaries. 




Edward A. Sheldon (1832-1897) 



168 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

The most valuable feature of Pestalozzianism that 
Sheldon introduced at Oswego was the objective 
method. He demonstrated the Pestalozzian plan of 
developing the faculties by means of lessons on objects, 
animals, plants, form, size, number, color, place, and 
drawing, together with various physical exercises. 
^^ Every step taken was carefully gauged to childhood's 
nature. The teacher tried to see everything through 
the child's eyes ; the center of gravity in the world 
of instruction was transferred from the teacher's 
personality to that of the child ; so not only the subject 
matter, but the method and spirit, of all elementary 
instruction was vitally changed for the better in all 
schools touched by Oswego influence." 

The Oswego Movement. — The Oswego innovation 
consisted in putting the Pestalozzian theories into 
practice. Educators knew about them, for, as we have 
seen, much had been written about them during the 
period of the Great Educational Awakening. But 
as John D. Philbrick, then Superintendent of the 
Schools of Boston, wrote : " Our theories may be 
sound, but they cannot work out themselves. The 
Pestalozzian principles have long been familiar to the 
leading educators of this countr}^ ; and yet they have 
made little progress in our primary schools, for want 
of teachers to apply them." By putting Pesta- 
lozzi's principles into actual practice, and training 
teachers in their use, Sheldon made a very important 
contribution, and probably deserves to rank next to 



THE TRANSITION PERIOD, 1861-1890 169 

Horace Mann as an educational leader of his day and 
generation. 
The New Normal Schools and the Oswego Idea. — 

The Oswego idea was the usual subject of discussion at 
teachers' conventions for a number of years. In this 
way it was spread abroad. But chiefly it was carried 
to new normal schools by Oswego graduates. In 1860 
there were not more than twenty normal schools. 
Scarcely half of these really deserved the name. The 
Oswego Normal School was the only one in which prac- 
tice teaching had been successfully featured. In 1871 
the Commissioner's Report enumerated one hundred 
and fourteen normal schools, but no doubt this number 
is deceptive, because of the nondescript character of 
some of the schools. By 1895 there were three hun- 
dred and sixty-five normal schools, of which one 
hundred fifty-five were public institutions. In a very 
important sense Oswego was the mother of many of 
these new schools. In most of them the Oswego idea 
was definitely copied ; and Oswego graduates were 
employed in very many of them. In his little book 
on " The Oswego Movement," Andrew P. Hollis 
quotes from letters, addresses, and other documents 
to show in detail where these graduates were employed. 
The list of schools would be too long to enumerate here, 
but they include representative, and often leading, 
schools in New York, Pennsylvania, the entire Middle 
West, and far West, and eventually the South. By the 
close of the period the Pestalozzian objective method. 



170 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

with nature study, elementary art, handwork, and 
physical exercise, had become an intrenched practice 
in all the normal schools of the country. 

However, the reader must beware of .forming- an 
exaggerated notion of the effect that this movement 
had upon the common schools ; he must remember 
that after all the percentage of teachers in the common 
schools who were normal-school graduates was very 
small. Most middle-aged readers will recollect the 
instruction received in their childhood as distinctly 
un-Pestalozzian in character. 

There was one feature of Pestalozzianism, the 
analytical method (see p. 81), that received a very 
unfortunate emphasis. This method was based upon 
the mistaken theory that the elementary parts, into 
which a usable whole can be analyzed by adults, should 
be thoroughly drilled upon by children who are begin- 
ning to learn. For a time this fallacy pervaded the 
teaching of nearly all the common branches. It 
encouraged the alphabet-syllable method of teaching 
reading. In writing children were drilled upon the 
Unes and curves of which letters are made up. 
Naturally they lost interest in this drill because it 
was so long before they were permitted to write words. 
In arithmetic a man named Grube devised a method 
by which children were supposed to learn all about 
the numbers under ten, and their combinations, before 
they were permitted to take up the larger numbers, — 
and later progress proceeded by steps of ten. In 



THE TRANSITION PERIOD, 1861-1890 171 

drawing children were drilled on certain type solids 
(see p. 240) without being allowed to draw objects 
from life. In music they were drilled interminably on 
scales and note reading ; it was considered a sin to 
let them play complete pieces that they liked, and songs 
were rarely a part of singing lessons in school. This 
theory prevailed pretty generally till about 1890, after 
which the reaction began to set in. 

The Kindergarten. — Froebel's influence also was 
being extended to the United States. The manual- 
training movement has already been mentioned. The 
kindergarten was also introduced during the Transition 
Period. In 1855 the first kindergarten in the United 
States had been organized by the wife of Carl Schurz, 
who had been a pupil of Froebel's. This school was 
located at Watertown, Wisconsin, among a group of 
cultured Germans who had been forced to leave their 
country because of their participation in the Revolu- 
tion of 1848. Through the writings of Frau Schurz, 
and perhaps those of Henry Barnard, Elizabeth Palmer 
Peabody of Boston became interested, and opened in 
that city a school for small children in 1860. Con- 
vinced of her inadequate knowledge of the kindergarten 
she went to Hamburg in 1867 to study with Froebel's 
widow. Returning in 1868 she became the recognized 
apostle of the kindergarten in the United States, as 
Baroness von Btilow was in Europe. Several training 
schools for kindergarten teachers were organized soon 
after her return ; and pupils of Froebel were imported 



172 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

to conduct them. Private kindergartens were rapidly 
organized ; by 1880 four hundred had been opened in 
thirty different states. Kindergarten training schools 
had also been opened in ten important cities. Between 
1880 and 1890 associations actively promoted the 
kindergarten cause in many cities, often demonstrating 
the value of the institution by conducting free kinder- 
gartens in the poor sections. The first public kinder- 
garten organized as a part of a public school system 
was in St. Louis in 1873, under the leadership of 
William T. Harris, whose knowledge of educational 
philosophy enabled him to appreciate the significance 
not only of the kindergarten itself but also of the 
Froebelian principles underlying it. Susan E. Blow 
had charge of the St. Louis kindergarten. Before the 
end of the century ten leading cities followed the 
example of St. Louis and incorporated public kinder- 
gartens into their systems. This movement not only 
popularized the kindergarten itself, but prepared the 
way for a more intelligent appreciation of FroebeFs 
principles, and for their application throughout the 
whole system. 

Colonel Parker and the Quincy Movement. — By 
his contemporaries Colonel Francis W. Parker was 
regarded as one of the most progressive and influential 
leaders of the day. After a career in the Civil War, 
followed by some experience as a teacher, and three 
years' study in Berlin we find him as superintendent 
of the schools of Quincy, Massachusetts, and leader of 



THE TRANSITION PERIOD, 1861-1890 



173 



^^ the Quincy Movement." Here a definite break was 
made with the old-fashioned drill methods of teaching. 
Special effort was put forth to make school studies 
interesting and pleasurable. Initiative and originality 
were encouraged in the teachers. Increased attention 
was given to geography and nature study ; children 
were taken out of doors 
for much of this work. 
Sand tables in the 
schoolroom and sand 
piles in the school yard 
were used to help the 
children get notions of 
the shapes of hills, 
valleys, and plains. 
Local history and geog- 
raphy were taught with- 
out textbooks, so were 
spelling and language. 
Great enthusiasm was 
developed in the teachers, and the movement spread 
through New England. Institutes and summer schools 
sprang up, so anxious were teachers to secure insight 
and skill in the " new education." Opposition re- 
sulted in the examination of the schools of Norfolk 
County, in which Quincy is located, with the result 
that the Quincy pupils were found to be in advance of 
the other schools in all the fundamental subjects 
except mental arithmetic. Thus the Quincy move- 




CoL. Francis W. Parker (1831-1902) 



174 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

ment was vindicated; and its example had a great deal 
to do with the spread of the new education. 

Colonel Parker at Chicago. — In 1883 Colonel 
Parker was invited to the presidency of the Chicago 
(then called the Cook County) Normal School, where 
he labored for over fifteen years, putting into practice 
his theories, so like those of Froebel. Students flocked 
to his institution from almost every state in the West, 
attracted by the popularity of the new ^^ fad,'^ and by 
Parker's personality. Teachers went from his faculty 
to other institutions throughout the country. His 
virtue lay in trying to do, and in a measure succeeding 
in doing, what others for centuries had said should be 
done. He did not do the actual work of his subordi- 
nates, it is true ; but he encouraged, he inspired, he 
supported, he protected them, and made their work 
possible. He praised work that was often indefensible, 
except that it displayed effort and originality on the 
part of the teacher. Many times he said : ^^ Go 
ahead ; and remember, if they get after you they must 
take me first." He was constantly in demand as 
a speaker before institutes and gatherings of teachers. 
He never spoke except to preach his crusade. His 
statements were often extreme, his positions some- 
times inconsistent, but his personality was immensely 
attractive and his wit effective. On one occasion he 
retorted to a questioner in his audience : " Certainly 
I'd use spelling books if the board made the children 
bring them, of course I would ; I'd put them in the 



THE TRANSITION PERIOD, 1861-1890 175 

stove and heat the house with them." People felt 
a strong attraction to him, especially his own teachers. 
Like Froebel and Pestalozzi he loved little children. 
Unquestionably his influence played a very large part 
in the revolution in elementary school methods that 
has occurred since 1875. As Parker lived and worked 
till 1902 further mention will be made of him in a later 
chapter (see pp. 234, 267). 

The National Education Association. — The im- 
provement of the teaching profession was also promoted 
by voluntary organizations of teachers. The National 
Education Association was organized in 1858, and held 
its meetings and published its Proceedings annually. 
The contents of these volumes reveal an intelligent 
interest in a great variety of school problems ; and 
the association was one of the most potent agencies 
for the discussion of education. 

Pedagogical Literature. — There was also a healthy 
growth of professional literature. Numerous books 
on pedagogy appeared, though most of them were of 
the rule-of-thumb sort. Perhaps the most important 
of these was White's '^ School Management." Strange 
to say, however, the one book that was accepted as 
a classic throughout the period, and recommended to 
all young teachers, was Page's " Theory and Practice 
of Teaching," published in 1847. 

Educational journalism was interfered with by the 
Civil War and recovery was somewhat slow ; still some 
of the standard journals of the present were founded 



176 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



during this period. Among such might be mentioned : 
Journal of Education (1875), Popular Education (1884), 
Education (1880), School and Home Education (1886), 
Educational Review (1891), Pedagogical Seminary 
(1891), and the School Review (1893). 
The greatest contribution to pedagogical literature 

during this period 
was Henry Barnard's 
American Journal of 
Education. Into this 
great work of more 
than 25,000 pages he 
put not only the chief 
energy of a long life, 
but his entire fortune 
of $50,000. Even then 
the plates were rescued 
from the melting pot 
through the assistance 
of friends, including 
Dr. William T. Harris, 
one of the few men then living who realized the value 
of such a work. The contribution it was capable of 
making to educational progress the reader may infer 
from Graves' summary of its contents : 

*'This great treasury of material includes every phase 
of the history of education from the earliest times down 
into the latter half of the nineteenth century. It furnishes 
accounts of all contemporaneous systems in Europe and 




Henry Barnard 



THE TRANSITION PERIOD, 1861-1890 177 

America, descriptions of institutions for the professional 
training of teachers, and essays upon courses of study for 
colleges and technical schools, the education of defectives 
and delinquents, physical education, school architecture, 
great educators, and a large variety of other themes. While 
it is always most reliable in its treatises upon foreign edu- 
cational activity, of even greater value is its practical grasp 
of educational life in America from the beginning. It con- 
tains the greatest collection of interesting monographs upon 
the development of educational ideals and organization in 
the various states, and is the most complete description 
in literature of the educational Hfe of a nation." 

The Tendency toward Centralization. — As was 

pointed out in Chapter I (p. 19), the original New Eng- 
land school districts were autononious ; i.e. they were a 
law unto themselves. They were not only independent 
so far as control was concerned, but they were self- 
dependent for support. For a century, however, 
there has gradually been going on a movement toward 
centralization in school administration, that is, taking 
the control and support away from the local districts 
in part and giving it to the larger units, especially to 
the county and state. We have traced the beginnings 
of centralization in previous chapters (pp. 42, 129, 142). 
We shall now see how the same tendency continued 
during the Transition Period. 

The Bureau of Education. — It was during the 
period, too, that the Federal Bureau of Education was 
established, — largely through the influence of Henry 
Barnard. Ever since he discovered as secretary of the 



178 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

Connecticut State Board of Education how destitute 
the Federal Government was of all educational statistics 
and information, Barnard had never lost an opportunity . 
to advocate the establishment of such a Bureau. 
Others, however, exerted the immediate influence that 
brought his plan to realization. In 1866 Emerson 
E. White of Ohio, at one time Superintendent of 
Schools in Cleveland and the author of several books 
for teachers, presented a plan before the National 
Association of State and City Superintendents. As a 
result a bill was presented to Congress, and was passed, 
largely through the influence of James A. Garfield, 
a Representative from Ohio and himself an educator 
by profession. The Bureau was thus created ^ and 
Barnard was made the first Commissioner. He at 
once inaugurated the policy which has made the Bureau 
ever since a clearing house of information on all sorts 
of educational subjects. The function which the 
Bureau, in some enlarged form (see p. 314), is destined 
to perform in the next generation will reveal the sig- 
nificance of its establishment sixty-two years ago. 

The establishment of the Federal Bureau and of the 
land-grant colleges enabled the Federal Government 
to exert considerable influence over school matters, 
although it remained quite without authority to control 
education in the several states. 

^A "Department of Education" was first established in 1867, but 
in the following year this was replaced by a Bureau within the Depart- 
ment of the Interior. 



THE TRANSITION PERIOD, 1861-1890 179 

Development of State School Systems. — As stated 
before, all the northern states entered this period with 
state superintendents, and the southern states created 
such offices soon after the Civil War. The ten states 
having the largest permanent state funds for the 
support of public education had a total of about sixty 
millions of such funds in 1886. This was approximately 
the same amount that the same ten states were spending 
annually on public education. Since the income of 
the permanent funds was a little less than three 
million it follows that about fifty-seven million, or 
ninety-five per cent of the total current expenditure 
for education, was raised by local taxation. Com- 
pulsory attendance laws were passed in most of the 
northern states during this period, but were not well 
enforced. All this moved the districts still further 
away from the autonomy they had inherited from 
New England ; the new state laws and the oversight 
of state and county superintendents made it harder 
for local communities to maintain as poor schools as 
local ignorance dictated ; and the new state aid was 
some, if, indeed a very meager, relief from local poverty. 
But again it was a case of new foundations. We our- 
selves inherit the responsibility for superstructure. 

Development of the City and County Units. — Another 
centralizing tendency was the rise of the city super- 
intendency, one of the important movements of this 
period. Only twenty-four cities had appointed city 
superintendents prior to 1861, and they made the 



180 TflE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

superintendent a clerical official rather than a school 
administrator. '^ By 1876, however, 142 cities, out 
of 175 cities having 8000 inhabitants or over, had city 
superintendents of schools." ^ Thus the foundations 
were laid for the expert scientific control of education 
which will prove so necessary in the future. 

Outside of the cities and larger towns the one-room 
district school continued to be almost a universal 
institution, and the description of it given in a previous 
chapter carries over into this period, except that 
control by the brawn of the pedagogue was giving 
place, as pioneer conditions receded, to control by public 
sentiment. Leading educators were beginning, how- 
ever, to prophesy against the retention of the one- 
room school in such terms as the following : '^ Nothing 
would so freshen the neglected rural life in the North 
and control the terrible mania for herding in our new 
and crude cities as a superior elementary school in 
every district.'' Although the speech from which 
this sentence is taken was made before the National 
Education Association nearly fifty years ago, it sounds 
much like the speeches that we hear now, — so slowly 
has the rural school moved forward. 

Educational Progress in the South. — The pHght of 
the South was mentioned in the introductory paragraph 
(p. 151). Her taxable property had been reduced to 
less than half by the Civil War. Banks, investments, 
personal securities, currency, labor, and capital were 
1 Cubberley, "Public School Administration," p. 58, 



THE TRANSITION PERIOD, 1861-1890 181 

all paralyzed. There was no public school system, 
but there was a high per cent of illiteracy, and a pro- 
portionate indifference to education. The infegro prob- 
lem seriously complicated the situation. Outside help 
was necessary. This was supplied through the Freed- 
men's Aid Society, by the Freedmen^s Bureau of the 
Federal Government, and later by the Peabody and 
Slater Funds. The various religious denominations 
planted schools and colleges all over the South, some 
for the education of qegroes, and some for the en- 
couragement of white people whose advantages would 
otherwise have been very limited. Hampton In- 
stitute in Virginia was founded by the American 
Missionary Association in 1868, though it was 
presently placed on an independent footing. Tuskegee 
Institute was founded in 1881. An important feature 
of these schools was their combination of industrial 
with academic education after the Pestalozzi-Fellen- 
burg model ; though that feature was due more to the 
practical needs of the students and the common sense 
of the founders than to any conscious imitation of the 
Swiss reformers. But it must not be inferred that the 
South depended supinely upon outside aid ; instead 
she set herself immediately and resolutely to the task ; 
and by 1890 public school systems had been set up as 
going concerns throughout the South. Nevertheless 
illiteracy was still very high, and resources inadequate. 
The social system of the period before the war, and the 
war itself, may be said to have set the South back fully 



182 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

a generation in her educational development. Even 
yet she has not recovered fro'm the handicap ; and that 
fact constitutes one of the chief reasons for generous 
Federal appropriations for education. 

The Higher Education of Women. — The battle for 
the education of women had been vigorously begun in 
the previous period ; by 1890 the question was virtually 
settled. There never was any dispute about the equal 
status of girls in the public high schools ; coeducation 
was established in the colleges and universities of the 
west, although occasionally an easterner debated its 
propriety ; and adequate facilities, either through 
annexes or women's colleges, had been provided in the 
east. Vassar was founded in 1861, Wellesley and 
Smith in 1875, Bryn Mawr and Goucher in 1885. 
Even professional schools with some exceptions had, 
by 1890, opened their doors to women. The Civil 
War and the great industrial development immediately 
following, by creating a heavy demand for young men 
in other lines of work, drew increasing numbers of 
women into the schoolroom. And all this was a 
necessary preparation for the new status into which 
women are now entering. 

Extension Work. — The psychologists tell us that 
there is no reason why the education of adults should 
not continue through hfe ; and we are beginning to 
discern that in complex modern society there is good 
sociological reason v>^hy it should continue, especially 
in cases where early opportunities have been meager. 



THE TRANSITION PERIOD, 1861-1890 183 

Provision for this need is destined to be one of the 
important educational advances of the next generation. 
The germs of it are to be found during the Transition 
Period in the Chautauqua Movement. This move- 
ment was inaugurated by Bishop John H. Vincent. 
The first Assembly was held at Chautauqua Lake, 
in western New York, in 1874. From the beginning 
the movement had the cooperation of leading educators, 
clergymen, and publicists including William Cullen 
Bryant, Edward Everett Hale, Lyman Abbott, Henry 
C. Warren, and William R. Harper. In 1878 the 
Chautauqua Home Reading Circle was founded, which 
offered an organized course of reading covering four 
years, and designed to give to mature people " the 
college outlook." In a very few years 60,000 persons 
were pursuing these courses. Later developments of 
the Chautauqua movement will be considered in a 
subsequent chapter. 

Foreign Education. — Regarding European schools 
during this period : Up to 1890 the German system 
remained practically unchanged in general organization, 
except that continuation schools became much more 
numerous. After the Franco-Prussian War, Germany 
began using her schools to inculcate imperial militarism. 
In France elementary education was made not only 
free (1881) but compulsory (1882) for all children 
between the ages of six and thirteen. Secularization 
of schools was also begun during the eighties. Similar 
developments occurred in Sweden, Denmark, and Italy. 



184 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

Japan established a system of public elementary 
schools during this period, at which attendance soon 
became practically universal. The Act of 1870 in 
England was really epoch making ; it established a 
system of free, tax-supported schools at first called 
^' board schools/' because they were controlled by the 
Board of Education, but now known as Council 
schools. These were to supplement the old-fashioned 
parochial ('^ voluntary ") schools wherever the latter 
were inadequate to the needs of the people. Prior 
to 1870 England had depended entirely upon '' volun- 
tary " schools for elementary education. The law of 
1870 created a modern system of public schools. 
Compulsory attendance up to the age of eleven was 
decreed in 1880 ; and tuition was abolished in the 
" voluntary " schools in 1891, thus making free ele- 
mentary schooling accessible to all. Nowhere in 
Europe, however, was there any movement for free 
secondary education corresponding to the high-school 
development in America. While primary education 
was now free to the masses, secondary and higher 
education, especially in Germany, was still reserved 
for the fortunate classes. 

Summary. — The period between 1861 and 1890 
we have called the Transition Period, for while other 
periods have had similar characteristics, this seems 
preeminently to deserve the name. By 1890 secondary 
education had been put on a new foundation ; it was 
evident that the academies had served their day, and 



THE TRANSITION PERIOD, 1861-1890 185 

that the free, public high school was destined to be the 
secondary school of the future. This was an in- 
novation ; . moreover it was a prophecy of universal 
secondary education. By 1890 elementary education 
also was on a new footing ; the curriculum had been 
enriched, better methods of instruction and discipline 
had been introduced, and grading had thoroughly 
transformed the organization. Higher education had 
achieved a new curriculum ; the back of tradition had 
been broken, and the, doors opened to natural science, 
economics, and modern social problems. Agriculture 
and engineering had each achieved a standing as 
a scientific profession, and the older professions placed 
on a scientific basis. Normal schools, teachers^ col- 
leges, pedagogical literature, and educational reformers 
had demonstrated the value of teacher training, — had 
virtually promised the next generation a body of 
professionalized educators. The theory of district 
autonomy had been definitely abandoned and the 
movement toward larger units of taxation and control 
had been well started. All these things were begin- 
nings, it is true ; but most significant beginnings. 
They presaged an educational system as different 
from that of a century ago as the steam locomotive 
is different from the ox-cart. Upon these foundations 
we must build the schools of to-morrow — a system 
of free, liberal, diversified education capable of pre- 
paring every citizen for the duties and advantages 
of a complex democratic, but problematical, civilization. 



CHAPTER VIII 
THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1920 
A. Educational Reorganization 

The Social Situation. — In the last chapter it was 
pointed out how our fathers, during the generation 
just following the Civil War, tried bhndly to manage 
the forces that were destined to produce a new civil- 
ization ; blindly, because they neither foresaw the 
coming change nor understood the forces that they 
were trying to direct. Nevertheless they laid founda- 
tions, especially in education, almost as if guided by 
Providence. Now it seems that the chief character- 
istic of the recent period is that men's eyes have been 
gradually opened so that they do foresee. The course 
of events since 1890 has forced our eyes open. 

Economic Developments. — The great billion dollar 
^^ Steel Trust '' was organized about 1899, and that 
was only the greatest of a great number of great corpora- 
tions organized at about that time and since. The 
" Anti-trust " act had no more effect in checking them 
than King Canute's command had in checking the on- 
coming tide. And so men gradually came to see tliat 
great industrial combinations were inevitable ; and 

186 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1920 187 

then to see that they are absolutely necessary to what 
we may call ^' machinofacture " industry. Meantime 
labor as well as capital was organizing on a large scale, 
and gradually we have come to see that such an or- 
ganization also is necessary. As long ago as 1890 a 
few men foresaw (now there are only a few who fail to 
see) that these two giants are about to remake their 
world — and ours ! 

In the period just after the Civil War the public 
seemed to have unlimited confidence in the govern- 
ment. But dating from about 1903 there began what 
may be called an era of exposure.. About that time 
a great deal began to be said about corruption in local 
and state government. Gradually the blame shifted 
from the politicians in front of the curtain to the in- 
terested persons and groups behind the scenes. Then 
the term '^ invisible government " was invented to 
suggest that the visible government was being con- 
trolled by forces that were often opposed to the interest 
of the people as a whole, whose collective will a demo- 
cratic government is supposed to reflect. No patriotic 
American can doubt the issue. " The man with the 
hoe has broken the silence of the centuries " ; and 
no great imagination is necessary to discern that a 
new chapter is opening in the history, not only of our 
country but of the entire human race. 

Once more : during the " era of exposure " a good 
deal was said about '^high finance/' '^ the cheat of over- 
capitalization," and the like. Gradually we had to 



188 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

admit that something was wrong with the distribution 
of wealth in this country ; and not only wrong, but 
getting worse. A few were piling up vast fortunes out 
of all proportion to their services, while millions were 
profiting little or none by modern inventions. At 
first a few, then more, finally nearly all, came to realize 
that there were causes for this in the very organization 
of modern industry, and that this must somehow be 
changed, otherwise America will cease to mean oppor- 
tunity, as Emerson said it meant; and democracy will 
be spoiled by castes in society. 

Other problems have loomed up in the last thirty 
years : the rural problem, the city problem, the im- 
migration problem, and many others. That these 
are new problems is evident from the attention they 
have received. Sociology was almost unknown in 
1890 ; political economy was not much patronized at 
the colleges and universities. Since then these two 
subjects have spread out like a fan ; a great many 
technical books have appeared on economic and 
sociological subjects, and social problems have fur- 
nished themes for innumerable novels, dramas, and 
poems. Literature is not essentially descriptive as 
it was in the previous period ; it focuses on the social 
problem. It has become conceptual. All this in- 
terest is evidence of an awakening ; it shows that we 
are acutely conscious of new social conditions ; it is a 
sort of prophecy that a new order of things is not far 
in the future. 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1920 189 

The Spiritual Side. — But the period has been one 
of awakening to the realization of a new age in the less 
tangible aspects of life also. How much is left of the 
old religious beliefs? This is now a timely question. 
Whether the new is looked forward to with assurance 
or with misgiving depends upon the vitality of the ob- 
server's faith in God and man ; but certain it is at any 
rate that we already have a new theology. In morals 
also everybody has become conscious of changes. We 
realize now that we have let the desire and opportunity 
to prosper take too much of our attention. All America 
is coming to see that the mere possession of material 
things does not satisfy. We discover, also, that we 
have been too selfish. The Great War has taught us 
that there is in human nature a strong impulse to serve 
some great, good cause ; and we are beginning to realize 
that to satisfy that impulse is essential to complete 
and permanent happiness. And so we see that our 
deepest need of all is a new philosophy of life. Few 
felt that, either, in 1890 ; nearly everybody feels it 
now, however vaguely. Thus we anticipate the dawn 
of a new spiritual day. 

International Relations. — In international relations, 
too, a new era has dawned. The Spanish American 
War first widened our horizon and forced upon us 
responsibilities in the eastern hemisphere. The Boxer 
Rebellion in China called for our cooperation with 
other nations. But it has been the Great War that 
has most severely shaken our older traditions of isola- 



190 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



o o o ^ 

O O O l:^ 
O O O 
o~ O' TjT 
O O O 
O O l> 

o" co~ oT 

O (N r-H 



t^ CO 1-H 05 <N <0 

LO 1-H O i-H QO CO 

1-H .-I CO mi- m 



2 



O CO 
O t-O 

O CO 

o ^ 
o 



?Q o 

1-H O 
r-l O 







lO 05 i-H C5 CO O 
O CO (M CD to O 
T-H (M S^ ^ O 



^ 



O lO 
O CO 

<=lco 

O (N 
O ^ 
O 
co'^ 



iO o 
t^ o 

o o 



T-T^ 



O O O (M 

o o o t^ 
o o - 




05 CO 



O CO Oi O 

CO rt^ CO O 

m ^ O 





CO (M 
00 (N 

05 







OJ 00 lO 

CO t^ i-H 

rH to 




00 



J^ 



^SoOj^'S 
*^ rt (B rt 

F^ CO o o 
o 0) ^ o 



o 

1=1 



>. 


t; • 


03 


d 


X! 


S 


(1) 


<» S 


br 


r^H oi 


a^ 


Ph^ 


;h 


3 o 


> 


<^ 


-H 



CD g 

J a:- 
I 2 



O 0) 

^§- 

bC ^ 
<V ^ 

> a 
<> 



a 

^ ^ • a 

"^ :3 M IB 
'^ ^^ ^ 

if !- bC bC 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1920 191 

tion. The Monroe Doctrine has lost its significance 
in so far as it kept us out of European affairs. Wash- 
ington's advice about entanghng aUiances no longer 
applies ; for obviously modern communication and 
commerce are themselves entangling alliances. And 
our very disinterestedness is forcing upon us responsi- 
bihties and opportunities for world service, now that 
the war is over, that we cannot evade. It is our ^' mani- 
fest destiny " to take a new part in international afTairs, 
and a part that will be very significant both to us and 
to all the world. 

A New Education for a New Age. — Such is the new 
age into which events have been bringing us, and which 
those events themselves have made us anticipate 
keenly. The educational awakening that has occurred 
during the same period has been commensurate, and 
truly marvelous. There have been times when peoples 
have '' unconsciously reahzed " their need of a new 
education to meet the demands of a new civilization. 
The development of the seventies and eighties was 
largely of that unconscious character ; but it has been 
far less unconscious in the period now about to be 
traced ; in fact we have reached the time when it is 
quite conscious. This is shown by the new philosophy 
of education which the awakening age has given rise to. 
Lester F. Ward (cf. p. 166), with prophetic voice, set 
forth the democratic ideal of a liberal education for all. 
To meet the needs of democracy in a changing age 
like this, John Dewey recommends an educational 



192 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



method that will produce the problem-solving attitude 
of mind, and a liberal distribution of knowledge and 
culture to all. Thus educational theory frankly de- 
mands a new education for a new civilization. It is 
well for all teachers to realize that a new era is dawning 
in the evolution of democracy ; that a new education 
is absolutely necessary to the success of that new de- 
mocracy ; and that for more than thirty years this new 
education has been evolving. Its scope and extent 
will be discussed in this and the next two chapters. 

Increase in the Quantity of Schooling. — The first 
thing to be noted in the period of twenty-five or thirty 
years just past is the unprecedented expansion in all 
phases of American education. This is most apparent 
in the material growth of schools as indicated by the 
table on page 190, compiled from the Annual Reports 
of the United States Commissioner of Education. 

Additional Statistics of Growth 





Number School Pupils 


Expenses 


Per Capita 




White 


Black 


1876-77 
1896-97 
1916-17 


1,827,139 
3,943,801 
6,244,461 


571,506 
1,449,325 
2,019,072 


$ 11,231,073 

31,149,724 

123,311,613 


$ 4.68 

5.78 

14.92 


U. S. A. 

1870 
1900 
1916 


7,561,582 
15,503,110 
20,351,687 




$ 69,107,612 
214,964,618 
640,717,053 


$ 9.14 
13.87 
31.48 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1920 



193 



It will be observed that in every significant item edu- 
cational statistics have outrun population statistics. 
The percentage of enrollment of school population has 
increased only 6%, but the school year has lengthened 



450^ 




twenty-seven days {i.e. 20%) ; besides, pupils attend 
a slightly larger percentage of the longer year than they 
did of the shorter year. The average number of days 
attended by each child of school age increased from 
58 in 1890 to 83 in 1915, an increase of more than 



194 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

40%. In other words, the average candidate for 
citizenship is getting at least two fifths more schoohng 
now than thirty years ago. 

Improvement of Quality. — Judging from the figures 
the quahty of schoohng has improved even more than 
the quantity has increased. The number of teachers 
has almost doubled since 1890, while the number of 
pupils has increased less than 50% ; which means that 
each pupil gets more teacher-time than formerly. 
Professional preparation for teaching has improved. 
The proportion of women teachers is on the increase. 
This is fundamentally due to the fact that our country 
is relatively new, and its resources, therefore, relatively 
undeveloped, so that there are attractive opportunities 
for men in the various industries and professions. 
Whether we have an undue proportion of women in 
the profession is debatable. Perhaps the chief argu- 
ment in favor of more men is not the fact that they are 
men, but the fact that men are, if adequately paid, 
more likely to remain in the profession permanently. 
Salaries have been increasing, it is true, and especially 
since the Great War ; nevertheless the increase has 
not more than met the increased cost of living, and 
the lack of adequate salaries still remains as the chief 
handicap to the efficiency of American schools. 

Investment and Equipment. — In other types of 
school maintenance there has been an almost startling 
increase of investment. The annual per pupil-year ex- 
penditure has more than doubled (cf. p. 190). In 1890 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1920 195 

we spent $11 a year on each pupil, on the average ; in 
1915 we were spending $32.53, or nearly two and a half 
times as much. The most astonishing development of all, 
however, is the investment in material equipment. This 
has been multiplied by five. This change is as signif- 
icant as it is outstanding. It represents an immense 
development on the material side ; but more than that 
it reveals a complete revolution in the aims and con- 
tents of education. The old type of school building 
has passed away because the old type of schooling has 
passed away. The old building had classrooms, reci- 
tation benches, pupils' desks, and blackboards. It was 
equipped for the old-fashioned, formal instruction, in 
the old-fashioned, narrow curriculum. The modern 
building is provided with laboratories of various sorts, 
shops, kitchens, and dining room, commercial depart- 
ments, art and music equipment, gymnasiums, modern 
heating and ventilating systems, sanitary toilets, 
libraries, picture projectors, auditoriums, playgrounds, 
and experimental farms. It implies not only a vastly 
wider range of subjects, but a freer method of instruc- 
tion, and a closer relationship between school and 
community life. 

High School Development. — But the most impor- 
tant aspect of all this is that the modern plant has been 
built to equip the modern high school, which is the 
most important development of American education 
because it signifies that a liberal instead of a meager 
education is to be furnished to everybody. It will be 



196 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

noted that the number of high schools more than 
tripled between 1890 and 19 15, and that the number 
of students in attendance at secondary schools became 
more than five times as great. Practically every little 
village in America now has its high school, and the 
consolidation movement has built many of them in the 
open country. Agricultural high schools are being 
rapidly developed in the farming regions, and industrial 
high schools in the towns and cities. Without realizing 
it, we have already made long strides toward universal 
secondary education, which is just now beginning to 
be openly recognized as an ideal, and which must be 
achieved almost immediately if a sound and vital 
democracy is to be realized in America. The necessity 
for this arises out of the social, economic, and political 
changes outlined in the first part of this chapter. 

However, the high school situation is as striking in 
its present deficiencies as in its achievements. Not- 
withstanding the growth of high school enrollment, 
only a few, relatively, get a high school education. 

*'At present only about one third of the pupils who enter 
the first year of the elementary school reach the four-year 
high school, and only about one in nine is graduated. Of 
those who enter the seventh school year, only one half to 
two thirds reach the first year of the four-year high school. 
Of those who enter the four-year high school, about one 
third leave before the beginning of the second year, about 
one half are gone before the beginning of the third year, 
and fewer than one third are graduated." ^ 

1 Bureau of Education, Bui. No. 35, 1918. 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1920 



197 



These withdrawals are graphically presented in the 
accompanying chart. But while there were 1,600,000 
high school pupils in 1915 there were only 226,000 
graduates. It is estimated that if all our adolescents 
received a complete high school education there would 
be about 2,000,000 graduates annually. In other 



100^ 
505i 

m 

30/. 




^ 



Percentage of Pupils 
Continuing through the Grades 



VII VII! 



XII 



words, the graduation from high school is only about 
11% what it ought to be. The growth of the last 
forty years indicates, however, that this is not so 
much a defect as an incomplete development. Un- 
satisfactory as it may and should appear, it is well 
to remember that it is even now an achievement un- 
surpassed in the history of education. 

The present status of private and parochial schools 



198 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



« o 
« iz; 
PhHh 



»0 05 t^ (N i-H (N 
O lO I> l> CO (N 
tM CO (M 05 »0 « 



(N" uf 1>^ TjT t^ CO -* 

iO 00 CO CO O C5 lO 
i-H (N 1-1 CO -"^ 



o o o o a a a 

o o o o « H H 

O" Ttn"" TjT l>r lO Oi l:^ 

(M CO 00 (M 05 Oi CD 

rH tH (N CO 



xfi m m 
O O O O r^ r;3 r::! 
o o o o c3 fl a 
O O O O H C H 
C<r co" (XT 00*^ (M l> 05 
05 rJH CO --H "* CO t^ 



O O O O rTij :^ rS 

o o o o c c a 

o o o o fi w H 

Cf 00'~ O^ CO" CO 1> TjH 

!>. CO 1-1 T-H (N t^ i-H 



O O O O r;^ :;3 :73 
o o o o a fl c! 
o o o o s w s 



P3 a> 



■-§1 

'^ "JH ^ ,-H 



^ „ „ O ^~-^ OJ 

!» CC M « 03 fl oT 

3 bC o '^ p 



:3 :3 



c»c» 



5 o a; G M 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1920 



199 



may be inferred from the fact that less than 9% of the 
school children of the United States now attend private 
and parochial schools. 



1,500.000 
1,450,000 
1,400,000 
1,360,000 


- 


— 


~" 


— 


~~ 


— 






"~" 


— 






— 


— 




— 


— 






— 


— 






— 




"11 


















































/ 




















































/ 




















































f 


1,250,000 










































































































1,150,000 
1 100 000 


































































.-^-^^ 










j 






1 n^n nnn 
























1 






1 000 000 
























1 






950 000 






















/ 


' 






900,000 






















/ 


















































/ 










snn (V)n 












































/ 




















































y 












700,000 
650,000 
600,000 








































.^^ 


7 
















































W/ 


















































( 


f 
















































.1 


•/ 
















500,000 
450,000 
400 000 


































f/ 


















































/ 


/ 
















































W 




















350,000 
300 000 






























^r 


















































/ 




















































/ 


























200,000 
150 000 


























/ 


^ 
















































/ 
















f-S 


a 


nl^i 










100,000 














_ 












y^ 


y 




M 


^eP_ 


■!£p 


^ 


b 







_^ 





50,000 



— 


— 


— 


- 


^ 


^ 


— 


= 


d 


-^ 


1 


rf 


Dgpamnp 


t 


fr 










=- 



1871 

Enrollment Growth 
Comparison 



1881 1891 1901 1911 1917 

(1871-1917) FOR Public High Schools in 
WITH Other Secondary Schools 



Higher Education. — While this book is concerned 
principally with elementary and secondary schools still 
some reference to the phenomenal development of 
higher education cannot be omitted. The accompany- 
ing table shows the growth of colleges, universities, 



200 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

and technical schools. The raising of standards can 
not be shown in the table ; but it is obvious^ for in- 
stance^ that an increase in graduates from nine to 
thirty-five thousand does not tell the whole story ; 
to complete the record^ standards of graduation have 
to be considered also. The increase of income is the 
most remarkable : nearly ten times as much in 1915 
as in 1890. These figures are vitalized by some typical 
facts that middle-aged people remember. The Uni- 
versity of Chicago opened its doors in 1891, Clark 
University was founded in 1889, Columbia was re- 
organized as a university in 1890 ; similar expansion 
occurred in other institutions at about the same time ; 
thirty years ago the great state universities of the 
Middle West were just emerging from the small-college 
stage of their development ; and farmer boys had as 
yet heard very little about the agricultural colleges. 
The German universities were still the goal of the 
ambitious student's dream. To-day the enrollment 
at a dozen of the state universities — not to mention 
another dozen of privately endowed institutions of 
equal importance — ranges from six hundred to six 
thousand, and their catalogues show the following 
departments of sufficient size to be called schools or 
colleges : agriculture, architecture, business adminis- 
tration, dentistry, education, engineering, forestry, 
fine arts, history and economics, household arts, 
journalism, law, liberal arts, medicine, mining, music, 
pharmacy, science, and veterinary science. 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1920 ^ 201 

College Entrance. — In connection with the growth of 
secondary and higher education it will be interesting to 
note the gradual democratization of college entrance 
requirements. During the entire period under dis- 
cussion the question has been a live one. At the 
beginning of the period the old custom still prevailed. 
According to this tradition the colleges practically dic- 
tated to the preparatory schools what their curriculums 
should be. In the eastern states entrance had always 
been by examination ; and in some of the eastern in- 
stitutions this custom still prevails. In the west the 
practice was begun by the University of Michigan, and 
adopted by nearly all other state universities, of ac- 
crediting high schools after inspection. The graduates 
of accredited high schools are admitted without ex- 
amination, provided that they show credit for certain 
prescribed subjects. In this way the college still 
dictates to the high school. But the growth of the high 
schools, and the gradual recognition of their task of 
preparing young people for life who do not intend going 
to college, is rapidly turning the tide. In the report 
(1918) of the Commission on the Reorganization of 
Secondary Education ^ we read the following : ^^ Pupils 
who, during the secondary period, devote a consider- 
able time to courses having a vocational content should 
be permitted to pursue whatever form of higher edu- 
cation, either . liberal or vocational, they are able to 
undertake with profit to themselves and to society." 
1 Bulletin No. 37, 1918, U. S. Bureau of Education, p. 20. 



202 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

This theory is beginning to be accepted in practice, 
and entrance requirements are being liberalized very 
rapidly. 

Internal Changes : Adapting the School to the Needs 
of the Child. — So much for the external growth of 
schools. Internal changes have been equally important. 
The changes in curriculum have been so extensive and 
important that the subject, although it comes logically 
here, will be postponed and a whole chapter devoted 
to it. Only less important than the curriculum, how- 
ever, is school organization. As Rousseau discerned, 
democracy must fit the school to the needs of the child. 
Several important changes have been made in the past 
twenty-five years all of which tend to make the schools 
more flexible. 

Making the Grading System Flexible. — About the 
beginning of the period under discussion the grading 
of schools had been pretty well completed, except in 
rural schools, where the principle has since been ap- 
plied. But no sooner was that process complete than 
its rigidity began to be felt, and so various sporadic 
attempts have been made to increase the flexibility of 
the grading system, especially during the last ten years. 
John Kennedy, Superintendent of Schools at Batavia, 
New York, developed what was known as the Batavia 
system some twenty years ago. His aim was to pro- 
vide more individual instruction. The plan has not 
been widely adopted. In some schools a modification 
of the Lancasterian method was used : classes, es- 



THE HECENT PERIOD, 1890-1920 203 

pecially reading classes, were divided up into small 
groups under the leadership of one member of the 
group. This plan involves the characteristic Lan- 
casterian difficulty, and has not met with favor. In 
large school systems the " Cambridge plan " has been 
widely used. By this plan the children go through the 
school grades in two parallel streams, one by seventeen 
stages, and the other by twenty-three. A child may 
at any time be transferred from one stream to the other 
without any great promotion or demotion. By this 
scheme it is rather easy to adapt the pupil's speed to 
his ability. Obviously, however, this plan is not 
adapted to use in small systems. In recent years it 
had become customary in large schools to organize 
ungraded classes or special schools for backward, 
peculiar, or defective children. Modern psychology is 
increasingly emphasizing individual differences and 
devising scientific methods for their accurate measure- 
ment, and it is increasingly recognized that regard must 
be paid to such differences in the internal organization 
of elementary and secondary schools. If compulsory 
attendance is to be enforced for the good of society, it 
follows that, for the good of society, subnormal children 
must be given the special attention that will enable 
them to make the most of whatever measure of ability 
they may possess. 

The Cincinnati Plan. — In connection with the ex- 
tension of secondary education one of the difficulties 
encountered is the necessity, on the part of many 



204 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

adolescent boys and girls, for self-support. Night 
schools are a frequent solution of this problem. They 
are now very common in the larger cities, and even 
in the open country some use has been made of tHem. 
Another attempt to solve this problem is the Cin- 
cinnati plan,^ so called because it originated in the de- 
partment of engineering of the University of Cincin- 
nati. The idea, however, was imported from England. 
By this plan two students are paired off against each 
other, each working alternate weeks in school and in a 
shop. In this way the shop is furnished a steady 
employee, while the school work is repeated in units 
covering a week each. The arrangement provides also 
for a closer coordination of theory and practice than 
would otherwise be possible. This plan had been tried 
in various high schools, notably at Fitchburg, Massa- 
chusetts, York, Pennsylvania, and New York City. 
Cooperation has been carried on with mail-order houses, 
department stores, machine shops, railroads, automo- 
bile factories, printing offices, electric light and power 
companies, and other branches of industry. 

The Gary System. — The reaction against rigid 
grading is one aspect of the whole recent tendency to 
render the school more flexible, to adapt it better to 
individual needs, and to make its activities represent 
a wider variety of cultural experiences. There have 
been numerous attempts to harmonize practice with 
these ideals. One of the most conspicuous of these 
1 See U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin No. 37, 1916. 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1920 205 

experiments is the one that has been in progress at 
Gary, Indiana, for more than a decade, under the leader- 
ship of Superintendent WilHam A. Wirt. The two 
outstanding features of the Gary idea are : ^ ^^ first, 
the enrichment and diversification of the curriculum ; 
and, second, the administrative device that, for want 
of a better name, will be tentatively termed the dupli- 
cate school organization." Under the first are in- 
cluded : " community activities, facilities for recreation, 
shopwork, and household arts." This provides for 
two distinct types of subject matter: ^^ first, definite 
subjects, that have in the last resort to be learned in 
such wise that the pupil may attain and demonstrate 
a reasonable degree of mastery ; next, aesthetic or 
other activities, giving wholesome pleasure at the time, 
and tending to establish higher levels of need and 
taste." 

The second of Gary's distinctive features is graphi- 
cally presented by these two diagrams, taken from the 
Gary report. This same report ^ sums up the success 
and shortcomings of the Gary system somewhat as 
follows. On the credit side is, first, the fact that Gary 
has actually made a bold attempt to put into practice 
modern educational theories both as to content and 
method ; and, second, Gary's contribution to school 
organization. On the debit side is the fact that the 

^ See "The Gary Public Schools : Organization and Administration," 
by Strayer and Bachman, Chapter IX. 

2 "The Gary Schools, A General Account," Flexner and Bachman, 
Chapter XVI. 



206 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



Gary schools make on the whole a rather poor showing 
in the fundamental subjects as revealed by the standard 
tests, and the further fact that '^ conscientious in- 
sistence upon excellent performance is only sporadically 

Fig. I 

Forty rooms for forty classes of forty children each, i.e. facilities for 
the academic instruction of 1600 children. A school yard and an extra 
room or two, little used, for general activities, are also usually found. 



Fig. II 



Twenty classrooms for aca- 
demic instruction of twenty classes 
of forty children each (800 chil- 
dren) in the morning hours, and 
an equal number in the afternoon 
(1600 in all daily). 



B 



Special facilities taking care 
of 800 children in the morning 
hours, and an equal number in 
the afternoon hours (1600 in all 
daily) . 



Auditorium 



Shops 



Laboratories 



Playgrounds, gardens, gymna- 
sium, and library 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1920 207 

in evidence." The report, however, takes pains to 
leave the impression that these defects are due, not 
to the Gary idea, but to inefficient administration and 
supervision. The inference is that with efficient ad- 
ministration and supervision, discipHne and instruc- 
tion in the fundamental subjects might be conducted 
in such a way as to avoid all bad results, while securing 
the ^' modern " ends at which the system aims. 

The Junior High School. — Another important item 
of internal reorganization that has developed within 
the past decade is the ^^ junior high school." Just 
prior to 1890 President Eliot of Harvard began to 
urge an earlier attack in our public schools upon the 
secondary subjects. The problem was considered by 
the Committee of Ten (1892) and the Committee of 
Fifteen (1893). In 1898 President Butler of Columbia 
University pointed out that the traditional school or- 
ganization was ill adapted to the nature of the child- 
mind in early adolescence. The period of discussion 
continued till about 1905^ when the principles under- 
lying the present Junior High School may be said to 
have emerged with considerable definiteness. This 
new institution is intermediate between the elementary 
and the secondary school, and usually includes grades 
seven, eight; and nine. It aims to economize time by 
completing the fundamentals earlier, instead of ex- 
panding them uselessly during the seventh and eighth 
grades, and also by beginning secondary subjects 
earlier. By more flexible organization, particularly by 



208 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

the use of the elective plan, and by the introduction 
of more interesting subject matter, it aims also to 
adapt school life to the peculiar needs of early adoles- 
cence. This last is the vital reason for the new plan. 
It is frequently referred to as the six-three-three plan. 
In 1909 the N. E. A. Committee on Six-Year Course of 
study reported that twenty-two cities had organized 
such a course, and in 1914 it was asserted that the old 
eight-four plan was " rapidly growing obsolete." The 
older '^ eight-four " organization, however, still re- 
mains in the majority of schools. 

The Tendency Away from Localism. — The ar- 
rangements by which a government supports and con- 
trols its schools are quite as significant as the number 
of buildings or the course of study. A narrow localism 
in the support of education is a curse to a great young 
democracy like ours. It permits too many localities 
to have poor schools ; and besides it fails to provide for 
national unity. We have made a very fortunate de- 
velopment in overcoming this localism since 1890. 

(a) Consolidation. There are those who claim that 
the backwardness of rural education is our most critical 
social problem. Farm life has been very greatly 
modified by the industrial and social changes of the 
past fifty years. The oxcart, the saddle, and even the 
spring wagon have gone, so have the double-shovel 
corn plow, the cradle, and even the reaper. But the 
old one-room school remains, almost exactly as it 
was fifty years ago, except that the big boys and girls 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1920 209 

are ashamed to attend it. It is a disgrace to any 
progressive farm community. It would appear that 
the consoHdated rural school is the key to its solution, 
because only thereby can secondary education be made 
easily available to country boys and girls. Consolida- 
tion means the abandonment of several one-room rural 
schools in adjacent districts, and the substitution in 




" Back to the Farm." A home talent play very popular in 
consolidated schools. 

their stead of one large graded school. This involves 
transportation of pupils, and provides for a high 
school. This movement had made a beginning in 
Massachusetts as early as 1890. Several other states, 
— Maine, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, 
Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, — followed during 
the next decade ; that is, permissive laws were passed, 
and a few schools were consolidated. Since then the 
movement has spread quite generally, though the vast 



210 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

majority of the old one-room schools remain to this 
day. At the present writing, there are no statistics 
available as to the number of consolidated schools 
now in existence. This is partly due to the fact that 
the definition of a consolidated school has not been 
standardized. But those in a position to be best in- 
formed estimate that there are now (1920) about 
11,000 such schools, and that the numbe^ is about 
three times as great as it was six years ago. The 
county-unit plan described in the following paragraph 
would greatly facilitate . consolidation because (if ac- 
companied by adequate state laws) it would supply 
an authority that could redistrict the county and put 
the consolidated schools where they are most needed. 

(6) The County Unit. At the beginning of this 
period (1890) the districts were still quite independent. 
There is now a decided movement toward the county 
unit. " This means a county board of education elected 
by the people, whose chief function it is to select a 
county superintendent. This officer administers all 
the schools of the county in much the same way that 
all the schools of a city are now administered by a 
single city superintendent. The object is to substitute 
a larger for a smaller unit of taxation, thus equal- 
izing school opportunities in the county, and also to 
substitute administration by a professional expert for 
administration by the local boards of laymen, which 
Cubberley characterizes as " expensive, inefficient, 
inconsistent, short-sighted, unprogressive, and penu- 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1920 



211 



rious." The accompanying map shows where the va- 
rious systems of school administration are in use ; while 
the chart indicates the type of county organization 
now advocated by expert educational administrators. 




District System 
Township System 
County System 
% Semi-county System 
Optional County Syste 



Different Units of School Organization. This map shows graphi- 
cally the different units of school organization in use throughout the 
country. The county unit, in one form or another, is making steady 
headway. (Bulletin No. 4, 1919.) 

(c) State. In the state organization for the support 
and control of education the tendency of recent years 
has been, first, to change the State Board of Educa- 
tion from the old, ex-officio board to a small state 
board composed of representative citizens, and to sub- 
stitute for the popularly elected state superintendent 
an expert educational administrator selected and ap- 
pointed by this new type of board. New York passed 
such a law in 1904, Massachusetts in 1909, New Jersey, 



212 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



Pennsylvania, Arkansas, and Oklahoma in 1911, Idaho 
in 1913. Seven states now select their state superin- 
tendents in this way ; in ten states these officers are 



STATE DEPARTMENT 
OF EDUCATION 



COUNTY BOARD 
OF EDUCATION 




COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS 




Deputy Superintendent 



Subject Supervisors 



Teachers 



Pupils 




Parents 



Proposed Plan for Organization of C^ounty System of Education. 
This is a graphic representation of a county plan of organization contained 
in a report of the state-wide educational survey recently completed by 
the United States Bureau of Education for the Legislature of South 
Dakota. (Bulletin No. 4, 1919.) 

appointed by the governor ; while in thirty-one states 
they are still elected by popular vote. The object of 
this newer arrangement is to take the administration 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1920 213 

of educational affairs out of politics and give the schools 
the ^benefit of expert professional direction. This is 
the culmination to date of the movement begun with 
the creation of the first state superintendency in New 
York in 1812. 

The second tendency in state administration is to 
increase state aid to local schools. The object of this 
is to equalize educational opportunities throughout the 
state. A democracy must; as an act of self-preserva- 
tion, furnish equal school opportunities to all the 
children of all the people. This we are not doing at 
present. A study of the accompanying maps and 
charts will show how much less opportunity some 
states are furnishing their children than other states 
are. It would be interesting for the reader to con- 
struct similar maps and charts for the different counties 
of his own state ; they would doubtless reveal similar 
differences. The way to correct the inequalities among 
the states is by federal aid ; the way to correct the 
inequalities of the counties is by state aid. It will 
be readily seen by a glance at the chart on page 214 
that we still depend too largely on local taxes. For- 
tunately, the tendency is to increase state appropria- 
tions. 

(d) Federal. The Bureau of Education, organized in 
1867, gradually increased the scope of its work. - Special- 
ists in various , types of education — rural, vocational, 
higher, and the like, — have been added from time 
to time, and the appropriations for its maintenance, 



214 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



STATE TAX 

AND APPROPRIATIONS 

10 20 30 40 50 



COUNTY AND LOCAL TAX 

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 



PERMANENT 

FUNDS 
10 20 30 40 



SOURCES 

10 20 30 
l8.tr; ■ 




Wim.ED(t.Co..N.V. 

Per Cent of School Fund Derived from Each Source, 1915-1916. 
(U. S. Bureau of Education Report, 1917. p. 79.) 

This chart shows graphically the several sources of school revenue in the U.S. 
Unfortunately it is impossible, with the data at hand, to separate county 
and other local taxes. (U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin No. 4, 1919.) 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1920 215 

while still far from adequate, have been increased. 
The Smith-Lever Act of 1914, by which the Federal 
Government appropriated large sums for extending 
the function of the Agricultural Colleges, and the 
Smith-Hughes Act of 1917, by which federal grants 
were made to the states for vocational education, both 
recognized the nation's responsibility for insuring edu- 
cational progress. By the provisions of these acts, the 
appropriations are distributed according to conditions 
prescribed in the law and administered by federal 
officials. The Smith-Towner Bill now pending pro- 
poses large appropriations for general education and 
the creation of a Department of Education, with a 
Secretary in the President's Cabinet. This sharing 
of educational responsibilities by the government is in 
harmony with a tendency that has been accumulating 
for a century ; the aim is clearly to equalize educa- 
tional opportunities throughout the country. This is 
necessary to produce the like-mindedness of all its 
people upon which a nation depends. Besides, some of 
our problems, such as health conservation, illiteracy, 
Americanization, vocational education, rural back- 
wardness, the shortage of teachers, are national 
problems, because it would be a menace to the nation 
as a whole if we permitted poor or backward states to 
leave them unsolved. 

Educational Extension. — If universal liberal edu- 
cation is to be realized as the aim of democracy it is 
not enough to provide a system of schools for children. 



216 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

Educational opportunities must be accessible all through 
life, both for those who may have missed satisfactory- 
opportunities for schooling in their youth, and also for 
ambitious persons who wish to continue higher studies. 
One of the important developments of the past genera- 
tion has been the growth of out-of-school schooling. 

By Correspondence. — The correspondence school idea 
was imported from England. President William R. 
Harper, who had previously conducted correspondence 
work in Hebrew while professor in the Baptist Union 
and Yale Theological seminaries, developed the plan 
more extensively in 1892 at the University of Chicago, 
of which he was the first president. Sixteen years 
later the institution had 2386 correspondence students. 
Other universities imitated the example of the Uni- 
versity of Chicago. The International Correspondence 
School of Scranton, Pennsylvania, began about 1890. 
This well-known institution and others of its type have 
since conducted an enormous business, affording edu- 
cational opportunities to millions who otherwise would 
have had none. Closely allied to correspondence in- 
struction is the extension work of many universities, 
whereby the offerings of the university, in part at least, 
are brought to the people of its territory in the form 
of bulletins, lectures, and extension classes. Stere- 
opticons and moving-picture projectors have greatly 
increased the possibilities of this service. 

'^Moonlight Schools.'' — There is perhaps no better 
connection in which to mention that unique and ro- 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1920 217 

mantic type of extension work, the famous moonlight 
schools of Kentucky. Cora Wilson Stewart, superin- 
tendent of Rowan County, discerned the tragedy of 
the illiterate, and enlisted the teachers of her county 
in the crusade of conducting free evening schools for 
illiterates. People in large numbers attended and of 
all ages, even up to eighty-seven. This was in 1911. 
The crusade spread to other counties, and finally be- 
came state wide, with the aim of wiping out illiteracy 
in Kentucky before the census of 1920. 

The Y. M. C. A. — The educational work of the 
Y. M. C. A. has been strictly a development of the 
past twenty-five years. Prior to 1890 the little that 
had been done was looked upon as a very subordinate 
feature of the Association's work. In 1893 the Inter- 
national Committee established a new educational de- 
partment. Since 1900 the work has rapidly expanded. 
Local conditions and personal needs are carefully 
studied, and the system is fitted to the person, rather 
than the person to the system, as is too often the case 
with the public schools. The great need for vocational 
education has proved to be the chief opportunity of 
the Association, although the scope of the work is not 
limited to vocational classes, including as it does read- 
ing rooms, libraries, general lectures, practical talks, 
educational tours, clubs for research, study, discussion, 
reading, and social service, class lectures for mature 
men, regular classes in commercial, industrial, and 
academic subjects, tutoring, Americanization work, 



218 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



as well as apprentice, continuation, and other vocational 
schools. Most of this great work has been done in 
evening schools, though some day service has been 
employed ; and the Association maintains a regular col- 
lege at Chicago. The present extension of Y. M. C. A. 
work into villages and country places promises to extend 
these educational services there. The Young Women's 
Christian Association carries on a similar work. 

Development of Y. M. C. A. Educational Work 





1893 


1897 


1901 


1909 


1914 


1916 


Total number 














students 


12,000 


25,200 


26,906 


46,848 


84,577 


82,385 


Total expense 


$72,000 


$118,000 


$193,000 


$570,000 


$1,086,000 


$1,143,000 



Chautauquas, Libraries, etc. — It is impossible even 
to enumerate all the out-of-school agencies of edu- 
cation that have developed in recent years. The 
Chautauqua movement (see p. 183) has taken a new 
turn. It now consists of summer lectures and enter- 
tainment courses, under local auspices, conducted in 
practically all cities and in very many villages. These 
courses are of the popular character ; nevertheless 
they are of great educational value. Free public 
libraries were founded in a good many villages in New 
England and New York during the Educational 
Awakening ; but the movement had no great growth 
till Andrew Carnegie began founding hbraries toward 
the close of the nineteenth century. By 1910, two 
thousand libraries had been established through his 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1920 219 

giftS; every part of the country being represented. The 
phonograph and player piano have contributed im- 
mensely toward the popularization of music ; the arts of 
photography and printing have made cheap copies of 
good pictures easy to secure, and have filled the pop- 
ular magazines, especially the advertising sections, with 
pictures, many of which are very good. Perhaps the 
advertising calendar deserves special mention in this 
connection. And the invention of the moving-picture 
machine and the presence of the ^^ moVies " every- 
where has had an immense influence in molding public 
opinion among the masses of the people. A beginning 
has now been made in the use of the moving picture 
as an aid in schoolroom teaching. This will carry the 
Pestalozzian principle of objective teaching into a new 
field. When socialized (that is, conducted for pur- 
poses of education and wholesome recreation rather 
than for private profit) the cinematograph promises to 
be one of the most useful accessions to the instruments 
of popular education. 

The Professions. — Modern civilization is character- 
ized by the rise of specialized professions. That is 
because science is coming to dominate life, and the 
leadership of society is being given to men of exact 
knowledge. In a superstitious age " medicine men " 
and priests are in the ascendancy ; in a military age, 
the soldiers ; but in a scientific age, the scientists. 
Nothing, therefore, is more clearly typical of the new 
civilization than the growth of facilities for professional 



220 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

education, which has been among the most striking 
educational characteristics of the past generation. The 
scope of the professions has been broadened by the 
development of modern sciences. It is becoming in- 
creasingly necessary for a professional man to know not 
only the technique of his profession but the modern 
complex social world in which his profession is to be 
applied. The so-called ^^ learned professions " have, 
therefore, become more learned, and many new pro- 
fessions have made their appearance. The standards 
of education for clergymen have been gradually raised, 
and theological seminaries have adopted the modern 
scientific point of view and substituted social sciences 
quite largely for metaphysics. 

Law. — During the decade between 1890 and 1900 
the number of law schools nearly doubled, and the 
number of students increased 180 per cent. During 
the next decade there was another increase of 50 per 
cent in law students. The course has gradually been 
lengthened, and entrance requirements raised. Still 
even yet college graduation as an entrance require- 
ment is exceptional rather than usual, and " nowhere 
in the United States is attendance at a law school a 
prerequisite to admission to the bar." Improvement 
in standards will doubtless have a tendency to decrease 
the number of schools. 

Medicine. — So far as scientific professionalization is 
concerned medicine has always been somewhat in 
advance of the other learned professions. Recently, 



. THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1920 221 

under the leadership of the American Medical As- 
sociation, considerable effort has been made to standard- 
ize medical schools. Standards have been raised, and 
the number of schools decreased ; which means that 
many of the poorer ones have been eliminated. The 
remaining schools have been classified as A, B, or C 
schools, according to their entrance requirements, and 
the length and quality of their teaching. In 1914 
about one third of the institutions required at least 
two years of college work for entrance ; and a four- 
year course leading to the degree of Doctor of Medicine 
was the standard of the Association of American 
Medical Colleges. There has been a strong tendency 
for medical schools to associate themselves with uni- 
versities and hospitals ; clinics in connection are now 
the rule, though there are still some exceptions, and 
state requirements for license to practice are being 
raised. Women are freely admitted to the study (in 
most schools) and practice of medicine. 

Engineering. — The great development of industry 
since 1890 has led to a corresponding development of 
engineering education. Engineering is now special- 
ized, as follows : civil engineering, with its subdivisions 
of hydraulic, railroad, structural, landscape, sanitary, 
and topographical engineering ; mechanical engineer- 
ing, subdivided into mill, marine, and structural ; 
mining engineering, a special branch of which is metal- 
lurgical engineering ; electrical engineering ; and chem- 
ical engineering. And out of these have developed 



222 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

conservation, production, and publicity engineering, 
and industrial management. The Commissioner of 
Education in 1916 reported sixteen independent schools, 
employing 762 teachers, with 6807 students. The 
following table shows the growth of this type of edu- 
cation : 

Graduates from Engineering Colleges 

Prior to 1870 866 

From 1871 to 1880 2,259 

From 1881 to 1890 3,837 

From 1891 to 1900 10,430 

From 1901 to 1910 21,000 

From 1911 to 1915 17,300 

Foreign Education. — Except for our phenomenal 
growth in free secondary education Europe has ex- 
perienced a development since 1890 quite similar to 
our own. Most of the items discussed in the last 
three chapters would receive an analogous discussion 
in a history of the education of western Europe. The 
Commissioner of Education quotes (1913) the follow- 
ing letter from Professor C A. McMurry : 

'^Nearly all the important problems that we are struggling 
with in American schools are under lively, and almost too 
lively, discussion in Germany, only from the standpoint 
peculiar to German conditions ; for example, vocational 
training, education of women, coeducation, experimental 
psychology, the common school as a basis for all schools 
leading to higher instruction, such as colleges, universities, 
and technical schools, moral and religious education, place 
and function of the fine arts, and university education. I 
was astonished at the vigor and incisiveness of the discus- 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1920 223 

sion on all these points. I think it is also correct to say 
that in nearly all these respects they are tending very rapidly 
toward some of the results which we have already reached 
in America; for example, coeducation, the overthrow of 
the old classics' monopoly in education, introduction of 
construction and manual training in the schools, etc. Re- 
ligious education is also being very vigorously discussed. 
From the current literature of education one gets a very 
strong impression that German writers on the subject are 
nearly always men of large and rich experience in practical 
educational work, and that they possess a sort of philosophical 
balance which prevents them from extreme radicalness or 
onesidedness." 

This letter may be regarded as typical of the educa- 
tional situation throughout western Europe at the time. 

The English Education Act of 1902. — England took 
a revolutionary step forward in 1902. By this law 
the '' voluntary " schools (see p. 184) were given the 
benefit of local taxes as well as the " board " schools. 
This abolished the difference between the two, and 
gave England, finally, a modern, democratic system 
of free, public, tax-supported, elementary schools. At 
the same time England also took another step forward. 
For centuries secondary education had been by pri- 
vate foundation. The nine '' Great Public Schools " 
of England were and still are the most aristocratic 
private schools in the world. Prior to 1900 a good 
many private schools came into existence, some of 
them very good and some of them very bad. City 
governments also had established public secondary 



224 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

schools. But the law of 1902 provided for the estab- 
lishment of new secondary schools, to be supervised 
and supported in part by the central government. A 
great many new schools were established under this 
law. At the outbreak of the Great War England was 
at about the same stage in the development of public 
secondary education that we were thirty years before. 
Germany and France have retained their old system 
of secondary schools without much change except that 
the programs of study have been made more flexible 
so as to postpone the students' choice of a career. 
Continuation schools have made considerable progress, 
and the secondary education of girls has had a wide 
extension. This description traces the development 
down to about 1914 ; current tendencies will be noted 
later. 

China. — The most spectacular educational revolu- 
tion of the recent period, possibly of all history, has 
occurred in China. For thousands of years China 
had maintained a peculiar system of education based 
on the memoriter study of the Confucian classics, 
and culminating in great triennial examinations, by 
which the officials of the Chinese government were 
selected. Thus the ancient regime was conserved. 
In 1898 western science was introduced in these ex- 
aminations along with the Chinese classics. In the 
same year the Emperor ordered the establishment of a 
Board of Education, a University in Peking, and a 
college in the capital of each province, together with a 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1920 225 

public school system in two of the provinces. While 
this system was by no means so complete and universal 
as our western systems it was a substantial beginning. 
Modern, western textbooks have been gradually adopted 
in the old-fashioned elementary schools held in con- 
nection with the temple in every Chinese village. 
China now has a large number of colleges, universities, 
and medical schools. The education of girls has been 
encouraged since 1906. Recently free schools have 
been opened in every city in the country for children 
who cannot afford to pay for their education. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE RECENT PERIOD 

B. Enriching the Curriculum 

In the preceding chapter the discussion of changes 
in the course of study was postponed. The enrich- 
ment and modification of the curriculum in the past 
thirty years has been so very great that a whole chap- 
ter may well be devoted to the subject. Important 
changes have been made in the organization and 
teaching of the older subjects, new subjects have been 
added; and the program of school activities has been 
extended so that the actual ^' studies " are but a part 
of it. It is a good thing for the teacher to know 
what these changes have been because such knowledge 
will help in an understanding of the new tasks that 
the schools are trying to accomplish. 

The '' Common Branches " : Reading. — First, the 
so-called "common branches." that were taught thirty 
years ago are still taught, of course, because they are 
of fundamental importance. But they are taught 
quite differently. Methods of teaching children to 
read have undergone considerable modification. The 
old alphabetic method has passed away ; and the 
word and sentence method have come into general use. 

226 



THE RECENT PERIOD 227 

In the change from the old to the new, several artificial 
and faddish methods were experimented with for a 
time. We now know that words and sentences are 
what the child is interested in ; the letters are to him 
meaningless and artificial subdivisions of the word. 
Gradually the child comes to understand that the 
letters are symbols of sounds, just as the printed words 
are symbols of things ; then he is ready for phonic 
drill. The technique of phonic drill has been made 
more efficient in recent years. In the past ten years 
we have come to pay less attention to oral reading 
than was customary a generation ago, and more to 
silent reading. We now realize that the reading 
ability that one has most use for is the sort that will 
enable him to get the meaning rapidly from the printed 
page. Hence the modern teacher has developed a 
technique of teaching rapid sight reading. 

About 1890 it began to be pointed out that the 
reading books in particular, and the whole elementary 
program of studies in general, were not nearly so rich 
in valuable material as they might be. President 
Eliot of Harvard conducted an experiment which 
brought this out very clearly. Concerning this ex- 
periment he wrote : 

"I procured two careful estimates of the time it would 
take a graduate of a high school to read aloud consecutively 
all the books which are read in this school during six years, 
including the history, the reading lessons in geography, and 
the book on manners. The estimates were made by two 



228 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

persons reading aloud at a moderate rate, and reading 
everything that the children in most of the rooms of that 
school have been supposed to read during their entire course 
of six years. The time occupied in doing this reading was 
forty-six hours. These children had, therefore, been more 
than two solid years of school time in going through what 
an ordinary high-school graduate can read aloud in forty-six 
hours." 

Such criticisms as this gave rise to a search by teachers 
for real literature suited to the needs and interests of 
children. The result may be inferred from the follow- 
ing quotation from C. A. McMurry's " Special Method 
in Reading," written thirteen years later, that is, in 
1903 : 

''With the increasing tendency to consider the literary 
quality and fitness of the reading matter used in school, 
longer poems and stories like 'Snow Bound,' 'Rip Van 
Winkle,' 'Hiawatha,' 'Aladdin,' 'The Courtship of Miles 
Standish,' 'The Great Stone Face,' and even 'Lady of the 
Lake' and 'Julius Caesar' are read and studied as complete 
wholes. Many of the books now used as reading books are 
not collections of short selections and extracts, as formerly, 
but editions of single poems or kindred groups, like 'Sohrab 
and Rustum' or the 'Arabian Nights' or 'Gulhver's Travels' 
or a collection of complete stories or poems by a single author, 
as Hawthorne's 'Stories of the White Hills' or Lowell's 
'Vision of Sir Launfal' and other poems. Even the regular 
series of readers are often made up largely of longer poems 
and prose masterpieces." 

Recently this movement has gone much farther in 
the same direction. Children are encouraged to read 



THE RECENT PERIOD 229 

widely^ not only in the field of juvenile literature, but 
in fields collateral to the subjects that they study in 
school, especially history and geography. This col- 
lateral reading will be referred to again. The study of 
children's literature is now recognized not only as a 
part of the preparation of elementary teachers, but as a 
most valuable sort of culture. 

Spelling. — Some reference was made in a previous 
chapter to Colonel Parker's hostility toward spelling 
books. The old-fashioned spelling books have passed 
almost entirely out of use. About thirty years ago 
written spelling was substituted for oral practice in 
spelling, because it is only when one writes that one 
needs to know how to spell. The habit needed is that 
of writing the word correctly. Later it became cus- 
tomary to select words from the daily work of the 
children, new words that they met in their reading and 
writing, and words that they were actually observed 
to misspell. This practice is now general. Only a few 
words are drilled upon each day, and the children are 
shown how to study a spelling lesson. A special 
technique for the teaching of spelling has now been 
evolved and this technique the teacher in training is 
expected to understand and to acquire skill in using. 

Language. — During the past twenty years there 
has been an almost violent reaction against the study 
of formal grammar in the elementary schools. This 
reaction has undoubtedly gone too far. It has been 
said of Colonel Parker that he did some harm as well 



230 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

as a great deal of good, and the extreme reaction 
against grammar is to be charged as much to him as to 
any other one person. The objection to formal gram- 
mar is the assumption that children can neither be 
interested in its abstractions nor expected to apply 
its rules in oral or written composition. The newer 
tendency is to teach correct forms throughout the 
grades by imitation and habituation. Even more 
emphasis is placed upon correct oral than correct 
written language. In the best schools pains are taken 
to '' motivate " language work. For example, an 
exchange with pupils in a distant place of real letters 
descriptive of natural environment and forms of sport 
is used. The teaching of English in both elementary 
and secondary schools is, however, one of the unsolved 
problems in present-day pedagogy.^ 

Arithmetic. — The ^^ three R's " formerly monopo- 
lized the curriculum. The old-fashioned district school 
of sixty years ago had little else to offer. Consequently 
for boys and girls who remained in school winters 
through their 'teens something had to be devised to 
keep them busy. To this end arithmetic was ex- 
tended far beyond its practical, everyday applications. 
Young men boasted that they had " worked through " 
'^ Ray's Third Part " (the advanced textbook of forty 
years ago) three or four times before they finally came 
of age and ceased going to school winters. Algebra and 
geometry were considered '^ academy " (that is sec- 
1 See U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin No. 2, 1917. 



THE RECENT PERIOD 231 

ondary) subjects and were rarely taught in the district 
schools. 

This custom persisted after the schools were graded, 
and school attendance readjusted so as to keep children 
in school continuously through the eight grades. Ac- 
cordingly arithmetic has been retained to the end of 
the elementary school. On the other hand the tradi- 
tion that children attend school merely to learn to read, 
write, and cipher resulted in starting the teaching of 
arithmetic in the first, or at least the second, grade. 
Hence the child, caught between the upper and the 
nether millstones of this tradition, grinds wearily at 
arithmetic during his entire elementary school career ; 
but probably learns no more than could be taught in a 
briefer time by efficient drill given at the right period 
on well-selected and well-arranged material. During 
the past few years considerable protest, more or less 
coherent, had been voiced against this situation, espe- 
cially against the study of useless applications of 
arithmetic. There were two chief reasons for this : 
first, the demand that schooling prepare for the prac- 
tical needs of life, and, secondly, the need of time for 
more geography, history, literature, and the new sub- 
jects that were being added. The following topics 
have been omitted or reduced : cube root, square root, 
greatest common divisor, least common multiple, true 
discount, partnership, compound proportion, surveyor's 
measure, troy weight, apothecaries' weight, taxes, in- 
surance, bonds, stocks, partial payments^ bank dis- 



232 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

count, compound interest, longitude and time, ratio 
and proportion, and mensuration. Instead, a great 
deal more emphasis has been placed upon skill in the 
fundamental operations and on the application of 
arithmetic to practical problems. This is in response 
to the complaint of business men that young employees 
were shockingly inefficient in the fundamentals of arith- 
metic. The technique of teaching the fundamental 
operations is rapidly being reduced to an applied 
science, largely through the influence of the standard 
tests. 

In the past few years there has grown up a strong 
tendency tc teach in the eighth grade a combination of 
arithmetic, algebra, and geometry, with special refer- 
ence to their practical applications. This tendency is 
largely due to the junior high-school movement. It 
remains to decrease the amount of formal arithmetic 
prematurely taught in the first four or five grades ; 
a change that would give the needed room for much 
desirable content material, and rescue a considerable 
fraction of school life from the bugbear of effort with- 
out interest. 

Geography. — As was pointed out in a previous chap- 
ter (p. 50), geography had little place in the common 
schools a hundred years ago. It gained ground steadily 
throughout the century, and secured a recognized place 
in the elementary school soon after the Civil War. 
By the middle of the eighties it was usually taught 
with two textbooks, the " primary " and the ^^ ad- 



THE RECENT PERIOD 233 

vanced." The material offered was merely a cata- 
logue of facts to be learned by memorizing. About 
1894, however, a near revolution occurred in the method 
and content of geography teaching. This change was 
due partly to the Pestalozzian objective method ; 
it was due in part also to a recognition of the fact 
that the conditions of industry, commerce, and the 
customs of people are largely a result of geographic 
conditions. For example, the existence of slavery in 
the South was due in part, at least, to conditions of 
soil and climate which were conducive to plantation 
farming ; while its absence from the North was simi- 
larly due to a sterile soil and a rigorous climate that 
rendered large-scale farming unprofitable and to a 
climate in which white men could work hard without 
deterioration. Again : the location of Gary, Indiana, 
and the vast industrial development of Cleveland, 
Ohio, were alike predetermined by the natural deposits 
of iron ore at the head of Lake Superior, and of coal 
within easy reach of Lake Michigan and Lake Erie. 
Such relations and causal connections, it was contended, 
children could easily be led to understand and ap- 
preciate. It might be added in passing that the 
physiographic theory,^ as the theory just described is 
called, is accepted with many more qualifications than 
it was a few years ago. We are now coming to 
see that business and social conditions depend upon 
the intelligence and morals of the people quite as 
1 See Todd's "Theories of Social Progress," Chapter IX. 



234 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

much as upon the soil and climate, important as 
these are. 

This change in the method of teaching geography was 
first represented in this country by Guyot, a disbiple 
of Pestalozzi, in 1866. While Guyot's textbooks were 
in advance of their time, the life side of geography has 
been increasingly emphasized since 1900, and again 
Colonel Parker was an influential factor in determin- 
ing this reform. The teaching of geography has 
gradually tended away from the memoriter method, 
with increasing attention to helping the child infer for 
himself the life conditions that the earth conditions 
of a given region would give rise to. In connection 
with this new method a great deal of attention has 
been given to observation, excursions, " type studies,'^ 
and inductive teaching. In harmony with these Pes- 
talozzian methods it has become customary in recent 
years to begin with home geography. By familiariz- 
ing the pupil with geographic conditions so close at 
hand that he can readily see them for himself, the 
subject is given a reality that would otherwise be im- 
possible. 

The teaching of distant countries by the use of 
descriptive literature suitable to the interest of chil- 
dren is another recent development that deserves 
encouragement. As Professor Bobbitt points out ^ : 

''We are here only saying that that portion of the world 
which lies beyond the horizon is also to be given the greatest 
1 "The Curriculum," p. 235. 



THE RECENT PERIOD 23o 

possible degree of reality in the minds of the children. Ab- 
stract didacticism does not give them this sense of reality. 
A half -page exposition of the cod-fishing industry, for 
example, off the banks of Newfoundland gives the children 
no essential reahzation of the nature of that industry. Let 
them, however, read Kipling's 'Captains Courageous' and 
thus indirectly participate in the various activities and 
experiences of the fishing fleet off Newfoundland, and they 
will have come into contact with that type of human ex- 
perience almost as efficaciously as if they had been actually 
upon the waters. Let them in the same vivid way travel 
in spirit across the wide plains of Russia, up the rivers of 
China, through the jungles of Africa or Brazil, across the 
Polar ice-fields, with the ore-fleets of the United States 
Steel Corporation, live upon the cotton plantations of the 
South, the great wheat farms of the Northwest, in the 
timber regions of Georgia and Oregon, etc." 

The importance of geography has been coming 
to fuller recognition throughout the period. Some 
enthusiasts, notably Colonel Parker, have made it 
the very core of the curriculum. The development of 
modern communication makes it important for many 
reasons. Many businesses involve relations with dis- 
tant countries. Being near neighbors to all the world, 
we need to get acquainted. If a League of Nations is 
to work well its success will depend in great measure 
upon such acquaintance. As Professor Bobbitt con- 
tends, the " we-feeling " must be enlarged to include 
all peoples". In the high schools commercial geography 
has recently been added to physical geography, and we 
are now ready for what might be called social geog- 



236 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

raphy, devoted, as the name suggests, to a descrip- 
tion and appraisal of institutions and the hving con- 
ditions of the people, especially in our own country. 
This would prove a valuable introduction to social 
science in secondary education. 

History. — Since 1890 history teaching in the ele- 
mentary school has been greatly modified ; and the 
change has come about largely through the influence of 
the Herbartians, w^hose theories, as described in a pre- 
vious chapter (p. 88), became quite generally accepted 
twenty years ago. About 1890 it was customary, 
as has already been stated (p. 156), to teach American 
history only in the seventh and eighth grades. As 
the majority left school before they reached those 
grades very little history w^as really taught to the 
masses of the people. The new history program be- 
gan to take shape following the work of the Committee 
of Ten of the National Education Association, which 
recommended (1893) four years in the elementary and 
four years in the secondary school. Programs were 
soon afterward outlined by certain representative and 
influential schools, particularly those connected with 
Columbia and Chicago universities, which provided 
history material from the third to the eighth grades 
inclusive. In the lower grades the w^ork consisted of 
stories illustrative of the life of primitive, ancient, and 
medieval peoples, and in the upper grades of American 
history with its more immediate European back- 
ground. Some such program as this has been in 



THE RECENT PERIOD 237 

pretty general use for fifteen or twenty years, depend- 
ing upon the progressiveness of the school. Recently 
the tendency has been to begin with home history and 
the primitive life of the American Indians. In this 
connection there has been a marked increase in the use 
of objective, illustrative material. The report of the 
Committee of Ten had as much influence upon the 
teaching of history in the high school as upon elemen- 
tary practice. The amount of history taught and 
required has been considerably increased, and the 
emphasis has been shifted from ''general" history 
to modern, especially American history. 

Hygiene. — Thirty years ago children studied physi- 
ology, as it was then called. The emphasis was 
chiefly upon the elements of anatomy. In some 
schools they learned, for example, to name all the bones 
of the body. At that time hygiene was taught only 
incidentally. To-day the emphasis is primarily on 
practical hygiene, with considerable attention to the 
bacteria that are responsible for common diseases, 
especially contagious diseases, and also to the social 
cooperation necessary to . successful sanitation, thus 
establishing a close connection between hygiene and 
civics. This change in the contents of school hygiene 
has been brought about quite gradualh^ during the 
period. Meantime state law almost everywhere has 
required instruction in the effects of nicotine and 
alcohol. No doubt this was a contributory cause of 
the temperance reform that brought about the Eight- 



238 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



eenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution. Dur- 
ing the past five years interest in health work and 
physical education has increased rapidly and a great 




Courtesy of the American Red Cross and The People's InstUiUe of New York CUy. 
Health Work in the Schools. 

development in these types of work is sure to occur 
in the near future. An important feature of the 
development has been the emphasis upon training in 



THE RECENT PERIOD 239 

health habits^ — regular hours of sleeping, regularity 
in eating and in attention to the bodily functions, 
regularity in bathing and in cleaning the teeth. 

Social Studies. — The tendencies just described in 
geography, history, and hygiene were the beginnings 
of a movement in the direction of the teaching of the 
sociological subjects. Geography has consisted in- 
creasingly in a study of industrial and social condi- 
tions. In history the tendency is away from the 
chronicles of kings toward an account of the life of the 
common people. In hygiene more and more attention 
is being given to the cooperative action necessary to 
preserve the health of the community. During the 
past ten years community civics, so called, has come 
into prominence also. 

*'The aim of community civics is to help the child to 
know his community — not merely a lot of facts about it, 
but the meaning of his community life, what it does for 
him and how it does it, what the community has a right to 
expect from him, and how he may fulfill his obligation, 
meanwhile cultivating in him the essential qualities and 
habits of good citizenship." ^ 

While community civics places chief emphasis upon 
the local community, it does not ignore the wider 
groups. This new subject is supplementing, and to 
some extent supplanting, the older civics, and is being 
taught in the upper grades of the elementary school 
as well as in the high school. Besides this, intelli- 
1 U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1915, No. 23, p. 11. 



240 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

gent teachers are increasingly emphasizing the social 
import of all the elementary studies, and introducing 
more cooperative methods in the government and 
especially the discipline of the school. The aim of all 
this is to prepare the child for civic and social duties. 
Art. — During the eighties drawing was but little 
taught in the public schools, and then only as mere copy- 
ing. Next came a formal system of practice in drawing 
" type solids/' such as spheres, cubes, and cyHnders 
(cf. p. 171). The aim was double, the practice was 
supposed to give manual control, and the solid forms 
were supposed to be typical, so that if the pupil learned 
to draw them he would be able to draw any object in 
nature. However, little or no attempt was made at 
application. Commercial concerns drove a lucrative 
trade in " type solids," and vigorously opposed the 
reform that began about 1900. Due in part to the 
inductive method advocated by the Herbartians, art 
teachers began to conceive the idea that children 
could make pictures. The influence of Colonel Parker 
and Professor Dewey suggested the use of drawing as 
a means of expression, thus making it a handmaiden 
to the teaching of other subjects. Psychology has 
recently shown that children have a strong instinctive 
tendency to express what they have seen or imagined, 
not only in drawing but also in plastic art, cut paper, 
or other kinds of construction involving form and 
color. More recently drawing and design have come 
to be tauffht in close correlation with industrial train- 



THE RECENT PERIOD 



241 



ing and domestic art. Increasing emphasis is now 
being placed upon artistic appreciation as applied to 
the common things of life, such as dress, house decora- 
tion, and local surroundings. Thirty years ago art 
instruction in school meant formal practice in the ele- 
ments of drawing ; to-day it includes not only train- 
ing in the appreciation of the beautiful, but, more than 



■i 


•^ 




]""" 




W^ 


■MB 


■i 




F i ' 


^\M 


■" 




_ 


P 1 A 




1 1 


'•^ iimi 


1 1^ 




LJL 


1 


5 


^ 


ijNZV^S 


m 


P 


'-1 




P^^l 




^^ 





Cuuriesi/ uj ihi Vlcwr TatKiny Aiuchint Cof/ipuny. 

Teaching Musical Appreciation. 



that, it stimulates an ambition to be surrounded with 
beautiful things, and develops the incentive and some- 
times the ability to create beauty. There is no phase 
of school activity that is more capable of enriching life. 
Music. — In. the teaching of singing a change has 
occurred since twenty-five years ago quite similar to 
the change in the teaching of reading. Then text- 



242 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

books consisted of formal exercises with but few songs. 
The aim was to teach children to read notes. Now, as 
in reading, the thought is presented first ; later it is 
broken up into its parts. Phrase reading is encouraged. 
Children sing at first folk songs instead of formal 
exercises. Attention is given not only to sight reading 
but to musical appreciation and to a knowledge of 
composers. The phonograph has come into quite 




Instrumental Music Teaching in High School. 

general use as a means of acquainting children with 
good music. Osborne McConathy, supervisor of school 
music at Chelsea, Massachusetts, is said to have been 
the first to give orchestral lessons after school. That 
was about 1905 ; since then the practice has become quite 
general. This has led to cooperation between super- 
visors of school music and conductors of community 
music and of city orchestras. Recently some pro- 
gressive schools have undertaken to give free class 
instruction in violin or piano. This is, no doubt, an 
important beginning. The common practice of em- 



THE RECENT PERIOD 243 

ploying private tutors suggests that musical education 
is a century behind the times. Instruction in the use 
of musical instruments should be as free in a democracy 
as any other form of cultural training. The intro- 
duction of free instrumental music teaching indicates 
that we are moving in that direction. 

The Demand for Industrial Education. — Industrial 
education is winning an ever larger place in the program 
of our schools. This is due, of course, to the industrial 
development of the past generation. Our industries 
require a great variety of skilled specialists ; but the 
apprentice system has no place in modern industry. 
Employers feel that trained workers ought to be fur- 
nished them ; young men and women are increasingly 
impressed with the helplessness of the unskilled worker ; 
and the public is coming to feel that democracy tacitly 
guarantees each citizen an opportunity to learn some 
trade. Hence the growing sentiment in favor of voca- 
tional education, though its proper place in our system 
of public education is as yet an unsolved problem. 

What the Schools Are Doing. — Commercial work 
and manual training were introduced during the Transi- 
tion Period (see p. 157) ; but manual training was not 
generally taught in the public schools until the first 
decade of the present century. Domestic science, 
though it had a later beginning, became general at 
about the same time. Aside from these three subjects 
industrial education has developed only here and there. 
There were a very few evening trade schools prior to 



244 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



1890. In general these were private schools ; and in 
them the principal subject was drawing, though gradu- 
ally science, mathematics, technical subjects, and shop 




courses were added. Gradually evening trade schools 
became part of the public-school system, especially in 
the larger cities ; many of them now teach the follow- 



THE RECENT PERIOD 245 

ing trades : carpentry, cabinet making, pattern making, 
blacksmithing, plumbing, machine-shop work, printing, 
free-hand, architectural and mechanical drawing, ma- 
chine designing, applied electricity, steam engineering, 
electrical wiring and installation, industrial chemistry, 
applied physics, advanced dressmaking, millinery, and 
domestic science. Day trade schools, either public or 
private, that aim to take the place of apprenticeship, 
are not very common, though a few have grown up in the 
large cities during the last ten years (see p. 246). The 
chief obstacle is the difficulty of attendance on the part 
of young workingmen. The part-time plan is in use in 
a few cities. There are only a few technical high schools. 
In fact the whole problem of industrial education has 
scarcely been attacked as yet ; but its solution is one 
of the most pressing demands of the present times. 
Industrial education will undoubtedly be one of the 
chief developments of the near future. 

The Smith-Lever and Smith-Hughes Acts. — The 
Smith-Lever Act of 1914 and the Smith-Hughes Act 
of 1917 mark important beginnings. The Smith- 
Lever Act was, like the Morrill Act of 1862, and the 
so-called Second Morrill Act of 1890, an extension of 
agricultural education through federal aid. It pro- 
vided for the county agricultural agents, and also for 
the extension of club work among children. The 
Smith-Hughes Act was a liberal grant of federal money 
for the extension of industrial education in urban 
communities, and agricultural education in rural com- 



246 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

munities. With respect to industrial education it 
initiated a new policy on the part of the federal govern- 
ment. 

Corporation Schools. — Preparation for the artisan 
trades was formerly provided for through the ap- 
prenticeship of boys to master workmen (see p. 17). 
During the period of apprenticeship^ which usually ex- 
tended over several years^ the learner served as a helper, 
gradually acquiring skill in the various processes of 
the trade. The Industrial Revolution led to a greater 
specialization of industry and rapidly reduced the pro- 
portion of independent artisans who were in a position 
to employ one or two " journeymen '' and to take on a 
few apprentices from time to time. This change from 
hand work to machine work and the displacement of 
the small shop by the factory greatly altered the char- 
acter of industry. Where formerly the artisan had fol- 
lowed through a piece of work from start to finish, he 
came now to concern himself more and more exclusively 
with certain fractions of the process. As a result, the 
workbecame mechanical and deadening ; and the worker 
himself, having often no knowledge of processes other 
than the few that he was held responsible for, lost 
interest in his piecemeal job. Apprenticeship under 
these conditions was also unnecessary in many cases, 
for the limited amount of skill required for any frac- 
tional process could be gained within a very short time. 
As a means of overcoming these and other evils brought 
about by the development of factory methods, many 



THE RECENT PERIOD 247 

large corporations now conduct schools in which new 
workers not only are given skill in some particular 
phase of the industry, but are also instructed in the 
operation of the industry as a whole. Sometimes, too, 
these " corporation schools " provide courses of a more 
general character to supplement the personal and civic 
equipment of their employees. The oldest American 
corporation school is that of the R. Hoe Printing Press 
Company, in New York City. This school was es- 
tablished in 1875. The movement did not gain much 
headway, however, until 1905 ; since that date, the 
corporation schools have multiplied rapidly until now 
practically all of the large industrial establishments 
and many commercial and mercantile houses have well 
equipped and well staffed educational departments 
in which their prospective employees are fitted for their 
jobs. This phase of education is not as yet under 
public control or supervision, and is consequently 
open to criticism on the ground that the best interests 
of the workers may be sacrificed for the benefit of the 
employing corporations. In notable instances the 
corporation schools are governed by most commendable 
educational ideals. Whether the state should assume 
some measure of oversight in this field remains an 
open question. 

Army Schools. — As a result of their experiences in 
the army practically all the officers and men became 
profoundly impressed with the importance of recreation 
as a means of keeping up the morale, and also with the 



248 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

deplorable lack of training on the part of the majority 
of the soldiers for any particular kind of work. In 
addition they were impressed, as was everybody else, 
with the high percentage of illiteracy and with the 
great need for Americanization. As a result there 
were established in 1919 army schools in connection 
with all the posts. These schools are in charge of 
Education and Recreation ("E & R") officers who are 
responsible to the post commandants. Experts in 
the various trades are employed as teachers. The 
whole system is under the general supervision of well- 
trained educators, educational specialists in various 
lines are retained as consultants, and the most recent 
pedagogical theories are applied in practice. 

In these army schools some one hundred and fifty 
different trades are taught. The shop equipment for 
this work is very remarkable indeed, especially as 
compared with the meager equipment for vocational 
education in the public schools. The explanation is 
that during the war a great variety of skilled workmen 
were needed by the army, and they had to be trained 
in the army itself. It was absolutely necessary, of 
course, that the equipment for this training be ade- 
quate to meet the practical demands of the emer- 
gency. At the close of the war this extensive equip- 
ment was on hand, with nothing whatever to hinder 
its being used in the new army schools. 

The men are selected for the various trades that they 
are to learn not only with reference to their preferences. 



THE RECENT PERIOD 249 

but also with reference to their adaptabihty as ascer- 
tained by mental measurement, by new trade tests 
that are being devised for the purpose, and by inter- 
views with trained and experienced advisers. Each 
man's personal history, trade experiences, and interests, 
as well as his grade of mentality, are taken into con- 
sideration in his guidance. 

In addition to this vocational work provision is 
made for the complete elimination of illiteracy from 
the army, and also for a certain amount of elementary 
education, including civic training. As was intimated 
above, recreation is closely related to instruction. 
Wide publicity has been given to this new phase of 
education, and there seems every reason to anticipate 
that it will result in a considerable contribution to the 
movement for industrial education. 

Vocational Guidance. — Closely related to vocational 
education is vocational guidance, which is scarcely a 
dozen years old. Frank Parsons, Director of the 
North End Settlement in Boston, organized in 1907 
a vocational bureau to help meet the demand for 
vocational advice. The work was later taken up by 
the Y. M. C. A., the Y. W. C. A., and the Commercial 
Club, and in 1909, by the Boston public schools. In 
the next few years several conferences were held, and 
the National Vocational Guidance Association was 
formed in 1913. Since that date this work has at- 
tracted the attention of educators generally. The 
movement will probably ally itself with the mental 



250 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

measurements movement in psychology, and become, 
within a generation, an important part of our educa- 
tional program. Its need is particularly emphasized 
by the fact that young people often, perhaps generally, 
drift into occupations without due consideration of 
the duties involved or of opportunities for growth, 
advancement, and ultimate success which the chosen 
occupation presents. As a result, many find them- 
selves misplaced, while others, even if competent to 
the tasks required, are much better fitted for something 
else. The social wastage is enormous, for men and 
women who might otherwise use their talents to help 
society onward are restricted to types of routine work 
far below their abilities. 

Extra-Curricular Activities. — The foregoing dis- 
cussion has already led us outside of the curriculum. 
This was inevitable. Indeed, a very significant curric- 
ulum development has been the development of extra- 
curricular activities, because they indicate the rapidly 
widening scope of the school's responsibilities, and its 
increasingly vital and democratic relation to all the 
interests of all the people. 

Play. — On the border line between curriculum and 
extra-curricular activities is play. The modern doc- 
trine of play is indeed modifying the whole theory of 
education. In the Puritan philosophy there was 
little place for play ; and our own fathers never got 
much further than to admit that '^ all work and no 
play makes Jack a dull boy." But a decided reaction 



THE RECENT PERIOD 251 

has set in during recent years. The function of play 
has been expounded by Spencer, Groos, Hall, and other 
thinkers ; and numerous contemporaneous psycholo- 
gists have studied the relation of play to the learning 
process. The doctrine of play is so closely akin to 
the Froebelian theories that its definition here is 
perhaps unnecessary. Suffice to say that play is 
being accorded an ever larger place in modern educa- 
tion. Games are used as devices for helping children 
to learn school subjects. Playgrounds are being care- 
fully equipped and supervised by trained directors. 
Athletic activities and contests, which high schools 
began about 1900 to conduct after the college model 
(where athletics were used chiefly for advertising and 
sporting purposes), are at least being subjected to criti- 
cism ; and indications of reform are beginning to 
appear. Neither as physical exercise nor as play can 
ordinary high-school athletics be defended. 

During the past two decades there has been a gradual 
tendency to extend the range and variety of student 
activities, especially in the high schools. Musical 
clubs, literary and dramatic entertainments, social 
gatherings, debates, exhibits, home projects, school 
papers, various intra-school athletic contests, and many 
other activities which depend largely on student activ- 
ity, are being increasingly fostered. If wisely man- 
aged they embody for adolescents the aims of the 
Froebelian philosophy (see pp. 103-106). 

Closely allied to these student activities are the 



252 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

agricultural clubs for boys and girls that began to be 
organized here and there about the beginning of the 
century. These clubs were originally due to individual 
initiative, and appeared first in the South. Their 
state-wide organization was usually provided for by a 
state superintendent or an agricultural college. Under 
the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 this movement was 
taken over by the Federal Government. The object 
has been mainly to encourage agriculture by organiz- 
ing boys and girls into competitive clubs for projects 
in corn, tomato, pig, or calf raising, or canning, gar- 
ment-making or bread-making. 

The Boy Scout Movement. — Mention of boys' and 
girls' clubs suggests the Boy Scout movement, which 
deserves to be more extensively incorporated in the 
public school program than it has been. There is no 
more promising application of the play theory to 
adolescent education. Dean Russell of Teachers Col- 
lege, New York City, says of it : 

''I declare the Boy Scout movement to be the most sig- 
nificant educational contribution of our times. The natural- 
ist may praise it for its success in putting the boy close to 
nature's heart ; the moralist for its splendid code of ethics ; 
the hygienist for its methods of physical training ; the parent 
for its ability to keep his boy out of mischief; but from 
the standpoint of the educator it has marvelous potency for 
converting the restless, irresponsible, self-centered boy into 
a straightforward, dependable, helpful young citizen. Every 
task in scouting is a man's job cut down to a boy's size. . . . 
The appeal to a boy's interests is not primarily because he 



THE RECENT PERIOD 



253 






_ • 








,„■ -,^, ■ - ■ - ■. ■"■■ -^ ... 



Courtesy of Boy Scouts of America. 
Typical Boy Scout Activities. 



254 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

is a boy, but particularly because he wants to be a man. 
Scan the list : agriculture and anghng, blacksmith ing and 
business, carpentering and civics, dairying and mining, 
music and plumbing, poultry and printing, first aid and 
politeness, life-saving and nature study, seamanship and 
campcraft, patriotism and cooking, and scores of other ac- 
complishments and activities requiring accurate knowledge 
that is susceptible of direct and immediate application to 
everyday life. To the boy that will give himself to it, 
there is plenty of work that looks like play, standards of 
excellence which he can appreciate, rules of conduct ^ which 
he must obey, positions of responsibility which he msiy oc- 
cupy as soon as he qualifies himself ; in a word, a program 
that appeals to a boy's instincts, and a method adapted to 
a boy's nature." 

This wonderful organization was devised in 1907 by 
Lieutenant-General Sir Robert S. S. Baden-Powell of 
England, and introduced into this country in 1910. 
It now enrolls about 370,000 boys. As yet, however, 
only an occasional school has adopted the scouting 
program as a part of its regular curriculum. 

The Wider Use of the School Plant. — A well-known 
book on " The Wider Use of the School Plant,'' by 
C. A. Perry, begins with this paragraph : 

''The children who went to school back in tho eighties 
skipped out of the schoolhouse at half past three. . . . 
Instruction was finished for the day. ... On Friday 
afternoon the premises were closed until the following 
Monday morning. On Satui-day and Sunday the grounds 
were shunned as forbidden territory, and during the long 
summer months no one entered them, except possibly work- 



THE RECENT PERIOD 255 

men to make repairs. Within a couple of decades" all this 
has changed. Public school buildings are now open in some 
places every week day in the year, . . . not only days but 
evejiings. Classes occupy them during July and August. 
The schoolhouse is being devoted to a wider use. It has 
become a place where children may both work and play, 
where they may do things with their hands as well as pore 
over books; where youths can continue an uninterrupted 
education, and shop girls enjoy exhilarating physical exer- 
cises after thp day's grind; where neighbors may gossip 
and mothers come together to learn how they can supple- 
ment the teacher's work in their own homes." 

The following chapter titles indicate the wdder uses to 
which the school plant is being put : evening schools, 
vacation schools, school playgrounds, public lectures 
and entertainments, evening recreation centers, social 
centers, organized athletics, games and folk dances, 
meetings in schoolhouses. The last chapter dis- 
cusses the social betterment that may come from a 
wider use of the school plant. 

Religious Education. — Greatly increased interest 
has been taken in religious education during the last 
twenty-five years, though largely outside of the public 
schools. The psychologists have devoted a great deal 
of attention to the problem, and parochial and Sunday 
schools have made considerable effort to make over 
their curriculums and methods in harmony with the 
findings of psychology and the practices of the public^ 
schools. Kindergarten methods, special methods in 
the grades (e.g. drawing, picture pasting, and drama- 



256 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

tization), and the gradation of pupils and lessons are 
some of the significant developments in Sunday-school 
practice. Greater emphasis is being placed on appre- 
ciation and expression, and less upon mere memorizing 
and exhortation. This new movement has led to spe- 
cial departments of religious education in theological 
seminaries, to the rise of a vast literature on the sub- 
ject, and to the organization, in 1903, of the Religious 
Education Association, the influence of Which ic now 
very important. The use of the Bible in the public 
schools has been a matter of much unfortunate con- 
troversy in the courts. Only a few states prohibit 
its use ; the matter is usually determined by local 
sentiment or authority ; and in practice the reading 
of the Bible is limited for the most part to opening 
exercises. 

The Health Movement. — Thirty years ago the 
school assumed no responsibility whatever for the 
health of the school child beyond a little instruction 
in physiology of the kind described above and an 
occasional thought on the part of some teachers to the 
most elementary regulations as to ventilation and 
school hygiene. But to-day we seem to be moving 
toward the point where eventually the state will 
supersede the family as completely in the medical care 
of children as it has in their elementary education. 
That consummation is, however, indefinitely in the 
future. Still medical inspection promises soon to 
become a very important extension indeed of the func- 



THE RECENT PERIOD 257 

tion of the public school, because it will conserve the 
health resources of the nation, and also result in much 
larger returns on the investment in schooling. The 
movement began during the first five years after 1900, 
under the leadership of various private organizations. 
There have been three distinct stages in the develop- 
ment of health work in the schools. The first had for 
its purpose the detection of contagious diseases. The 
second went farther, and undertook to examine for 
non-contagious defects as well. This led to the dis- 
covery of an alarming prevalence of physical defects 
among school children. Recommendations were made 
to parents, in the hope that they would secure 
needed medical attention. This led to the third 
stage, in which medical supervision, at least of the 
preventive type, is provided by the school. The 
school nurse is now a usual attache of the staff in 
most cities ; and the movement is now spreading 
to rural communities. A few counties now employ 
a school nurse. 

''Eye clinics, dental clinics, food climes, clinics for ortho- 
pedic work, and even surgical clinics, have all been established 
in our various public school systems. Medical inspection of 
to-day includes four fields of endeavor : prevention of epi- 
demics, the discovery and cure of physical defects, provision 
of healthful surroundings, and formation of correct habits of 
thought and action in regard to health." 

In connection with the third, courses in school hygiene 
are being developed in all normal schools and teachers' 



258 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

colleges. Very recently the Federal Government has 
made special provision for the teaching of school 
hygiene in the normal schools. Under the last there 
is being worked out a system of physical exercise 
and physical education far superior to the old ath- 
letics. Much more attention is being paid to the 
hygienic aspects of school architecture. The school 
nurse is helping to educate mothers in their respon- 
sibilities for the health of their children. The school 
lunch is also becoming an important feature of many 
schools both urban and rural. The war has given an 
immense impetus to all phases of health work in 
schools. 

The High School Curriculum. — Such, in barest out- 
lines, has been the enrichment of the elementary cur- 
riculum during the past thirty years. A similar de- 
velopment has occurred in the secondary program. 
Since 1890 there has been immense increase in the 
demands made upon the public high school. This is 
due chiefly to the growing complexity of our civiliza- 
tion, and to new conceptions of the task of the schools. 
It was formerly assumed that the function of secondary 
education was chiefly to prepare for college entrance ; 
we are gradually coming to the opinion that secondary 
education is essential for all, and that it should afford 
at least an introduction to all phases of modern cul- 
ture. This is now held to be " essential to the welfare, 
and even to the existence, of democratic society.^' ^ 
1 See Bureau of Education Bulletin No. 35, 1918, p. 29. 



THE RECENT PERIOD 259 

Naturally there has occurred a corresponding ex- 
tension of the secondary curriculums during the recent 
period. Before 1890 history, English literature, and 
the sciences had been added to the old substratum of 
Latin, Greek, and mathematics. Manual training, 
domestic science and art, and business training were 
added about 1890. Later came agriculture, modern 
languages, music, and art, and more recently social 
science, industrial training, and the extra-curricular 
activities. In 1892 the Committee of Ten of the 
National Education Association was appointed ; its 
aim was to secure more uniformity with respect to 
secondary-school studies and college-entrance require- 
ments. This result it achieved. The report was based 
upon the disciplinary theory of education, and in- 
sisted that one subject was as good as another in value, 
provided that it was as well taught. The intention 
seems to have been to discourage short, superficial 
courses in supposedly practical subjects for students 
not intending to enter college, and to emphasize 
instead long intensive study of a few subjects. But 
the demand for practical subjects has proved irre- 
pressible, with the result that high schools provide as 
liberal a variety of subjects as they are able to offer, 
the pupils being given correspondingly liberal privileges 
of election. The following is a typical list of subjects 
offered in a large modern high school. From this list 
the pupil makes up his program, certain " constants '^ 
being required of all. 



260 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



Group I. Language 


Group V. Science 




Latin 


(4) 


Botany 




Greek 


(3) 


Zoology 




German 


(4) 


Biology 




French 


(2) 


Physical Geography 




Spanish 


(2) 


Physics 








Chemistry 




Group II. English 




Geology 


(4) 






Astronomy 


(4) 


English Composition 


(2) 






EngUsh Literature 


(4) 


Group VI. Miscellaneous 


Hist. Eng. and Am. Lit. 


(1) 






Hist. Eng. and Am. Lit. 


(1) 


Music 


(2) 


Group III. History 


Freehand Drawing 


(2) 






Vocal Expression 


(2) 


Ancient History 




Physical Training 


(4) 


Medieval History 








Modern English History 




Group VII. Vocation 


AL 


General World History 








Am. Hist, and Govt. 




Mechanical and Geomel 


b- 






rical Drawing 


(2) 


Group IV. Mathematics 


Manual Training 


(3) 






Domestic Science 


(2) 


Algebra (1, 


14) 


Household Management 




Geometry (1, 


H) 


Bookkeeping 




Trigonometry 


(i) 


Business Practice 




Surveying 


(4) 


Shorthand 




Business Arithmetic 


(4) 


Typewriting 





The practice of generous offerings and liberal elec- 
tions has gradually forced the colleges to make en- 
trance conditions more flexible. Colleges are now 



THE RECENT PERIOD 261 

acceding to the demand that high school graduates, no 
matter what the contents of their high school course 
may have been^ shall be admitted and encouraged to pur- 
sue "whatever form of higher education they are able 
to undertake with profit to themselves and to society." ^ 

Flexner's " Modern School." — A profound impres- 
sion was made by the appearance in 1917 of a paper 
on "A Modern School/' by Abraham Flexner. In 
this paper he asserted that the traditional subjects, 
Latin, mathematics, and literature, were not yielding 
returns proportionate to the time devoted to them. 
He advocated four general fields of learning : (l) 
science ; (2) industry, including vocational education ; 
(3) the social subjects, such as history, civics, economics, 
sociology, etc. ; and (4) cultural subjects, including 
not only literature but art and music as well. While 
Mr. Flexner's proposals were not at all new to stu- 
dents of education, their publication aroused much 
discussion among laymen and served to promote 
further many desirable reforms that schoolmen had 
been urging for thirty years and more. 

Higher Education. — There has been an even greater 
expansion in the offerings of colleges and universities 
than of elementary and secondary schools. Every 
conceivable interest of civilized man is now represented 
in their program of subjects (see pp. 186-190). 

The Function of Education in a Developing De- 
mocracy. — These curricular modifications to which 
1 U. S. Bureau of Education, Bui. No. 35, p. 20. 



262 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

we have referred have been made with only a vague 
notion of the goal toward which the schools should 
move. As a consequence, overcrowding and confu- 
sion have resulted from the struggle between the old 
and the new. Our schools are much like an awkward 
adolescent boy who has attained his growth physically, 
but who does not know how to conduct himself prop- 
erly, much less the life work that shall presently claim 
his newly acquired powers. As Wells repeatedly asks 
in ^^ Joan and Peter " : '^ What are the schools up 
to?'' The foregoing survey ought to help the reader 
to answer that question. American democracy is 
preparing to train its rising generation to share in all 
the varied interests and responsibilities of the new 
and higher civilization into which we are just entering. 
As was pointed out at the beginning of Chapter VIII, 
we are becoming more and more conscious that a new 
age is dawning. It will be utterly impossible for de- 
mocracy to succeed in that new age unless the people 
have a much more liberal, varied, and practical edu- 
cation than has been necessary in the past. Hence 
the curricular changes and additions. Nor can de- 
mocracy succeed unless all the people are accorded 
such an education. Hence the developments in 
school organization and the extension of material 
equipment. This is the machinery which the young 
teacher is called to help operate in behalf of American 
democracy. 



CHAPTER X 

THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1917 
C. Educational Theory and Science 

Herbartianism. — Herbartianism occupied the center 
of the educational stage in America during the nineties. 

Ziller at the University of Leipzig, and Rein at the 
University of Jena, had maintained pedagogical semi- 
naries and practice schools during the seventies and 
eighties. They taught the doctrines of Herbart/ de- 
veloping his methods and working out an elementary 
course of study in great detail. Their influence was 
immense in Germany. Charles DeGarmo studied at 
Halle in Germany in 1886 ; Charles McMurry at Jena 
in 1887, and Frank McMurry at Jena in 1889. These 
three men became, within a few years, the leaders of 
the Herbartian movement in America. Upon their 
return they taught in the normal school at Normal, 
Illinois, of which John W. Cook was then president. 
DeGarmo published ^^ The Essentials of Method," 
Charles McMurry, '' General Method,'' and Charles 
and Frank McMurry jointly, " The Method of the 

* To understand the Herbartian movement in America the student 
will do well to reread carefully the account of Herbart in Chapter V. 

263 



264 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

Recitation." For nearly twenty years these continued 
to be the standard textbooks on methods of teaching 
in American normal schools. Their influence was 
dominant. The National Herbart Society was or- 
ganized in 1892, but later changed its name, becom- 
ing the National Society for the Study of Education. 
The annual programs of this society have ever since 
pertained to whatever subject was at the focus of peda- 
gogical attention at the time, and their yearbooks 
are a sort of compendium of the history of educational 
theory during the recent period. 

Under the stimulus of the Herbartian movement 
the five formal steps became the universally accepted 
formula for conducting the recitation. Normal school 
students everywhere prepared their lesson plans on 
that outline ; and the method was pushed to such 
absurd extremes that it may properly be referred to 
as a pedagogical fad. We now recognize that the 
method of the recitation must vary with its subject 
matter and purpose ; there can be no single formula 
that is suitable for all recitations. The popularity 
of the Herbartian lesson plan is explained by the fact 
that it reduced a very complex and difficult problem 
to a fictitious, but none the less welcome, simplicity. 
Neither recitations nor children are simple, however; 
they are both very complex. False simplicity is a 
usual symptom of the infancy of a science : educa- 
tional science was then in its infancy ; the Herbartian 
lesson plan was evidence of the fact. However, its 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1917 265 

use encouraged the careful planning of recitations, 
and stimulated the scientific study of method. 

The extension of history in the elementary curriculum 
to include not only United States history but general 
history also (see p. 236^ Chap. IX) , was due quite 
largely to the influence of the Herbartians, as was also 
the arrangement of the history material in the course 
of study. The increased recognition of the value of 
standard literature (p. 228) was also due in part to the 
same influence (cf. p. 88). The Herbartian doctrine of 
correlation (pp. 90^ 91) was for twenty-five years accepted 
as the master key for unlocking all curricular problems. 
In 1895, the (N. E. A.) Committee of Fifteen, on ele- 
mentary education, advocated correlation in its report 
as a solution for the overcrowding of the curriculum, 
which was then beginning to be felt because of the ad- 
dition of new subjects. Due to these influences more 
or less consistent efforts have been made to teach geog- 
raphy and history together, arithmetic in connection 
with geography, and all these subjects in correlation 
with manual training and construction. One of the 
most thoroughgoing attempts to work out a curriculum 
on this plan, using geography as the central core, was 
made as early as 1894 by Colonel Parker. Almost 
all elementary courses of study now show this influence. 

The culture epochs theory (see pp. 90, 91) has always 
been followed by the Herbartians in their efforts to 
arrange the subject matter of the curriculum, and the 
American Herbartians have been no exception to this 



266 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

rule. In spite of its partial inconsistency, as already 
pointed out, it has figured very largely in the parlance 
of pedagogy since 1890 ; and the truth there is m it 
has helped to light up some of the otherwise dark 
places in child psychology. 

Herb art ianism is now quite largely superseded ; but 
it made a very valuable contribution, not so much by 
solving problems as by raising them ; the very in- 
adequacy of its own solutions creating the necessity 
for better ones, once the problems were raised. Still 
another valuable feature of Herbartianism was the 
moral seriousness with which it approached the whole 
subject of education. As was pointed out in the dis- 
cussion of Herbart, his conception of the aim of educa- 
tion was moral character. But to the term moral 
character he gave a social significance ; it implied the 
ideals and habits that make one a desirable member 
of the social group. ^^ Social efficiency " is the term 
that American pedagogy invented to express the Her- 
bartian idea of the aim of education. 

Pestalozzianism. — Pestalozzi has exerted very little 
direct and acknowledged influence during the recent 
period ; indeed, the sixties and seventies were the 
period of Pestalozzian influence in America. Still 
Pestalozzi has been a silent partner in the development 
of school practice ; the yeast has been gradually leaven- 
ing the whole lump. Field excursions, nature study, 
demonstrations, the use of objective materials, and the 
emphasis upon sense experiences are all implications of 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1917 267 

the objective method which he taught. The Pestaloz- 
zian principle is very much more widely applied now 
than it was thirty years ago ; and the end is not yet. Be- 
fore 1900 a pronounced reaction had set in against the 
analytical method (cf. pp. 81, 170). The alphabet-sylla- 
ble method gave place to the word and sentence meth- 
ods of teaching reading. Children were set to writing 
words, drawing objects, and singing songs. The Grube 
fad in arithmetic was abandoned. Even piano teachers 
began to use attractive pieces that contained the scales 
and exercises. This reaction was due largely to the 
child-study advocates, who pointed out that the analy- 
sis of things follows the use of things, and that children 
more easily learn the wholes they can use than the 
parts into which adults analyze them. 

The New Froebelianism : Colonel Parker. — The 
past thirty years have seen very great progress indeed 
in the application of Froebelian principles (see Chap. 
V) to elementary and secondary education. The new 
type of education, for which the new type of school- 
house (cf. p. 195) has been built, is in large measure 
an embodiment of the principles of self-activity and 
social-participation. As we have already seen (p. 173), 
the first great American disciple of Froebel was Colonel 
Parker. He not only advocated training in all forms 
of expression, such as gesture, voice, speech, music, 
construction, modeling, painting, drawing, and writ- 
ing, but also put them into actual practice in the schools 
that he controlled. As has already been stated he 



268 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

continued his work at Chicago till 1902, and was dur- 
ing the nineties the most influential advocate of self- 
expression in both theory and practice. 

John Dewey. — Recently John Dewey has been the 
outstanding advocate of the new Froebelianism. He 
conducted a famous experimental school at the Uni- 
versity of Chicago, beginning in 1896. Later he left 
Chicago to accept a chair in Columbia University, 
where, in connection with his work as professor of 
philosophy, he has expounded his pedagogical theories 
with increasing influence. His most important peda- 
gogical book is his ^^ Democracy and Education,'^ 
published in 1916. 

Dewey apparently believes that industrial activities 
have had more influence on the mental life of the race 
than any other activities. Accordingly he arranged 
to have the children play together at such occupations 
as represent the industrial history of the race. In 
this way he provided a series of projects of real interest 
to the child, the educative value of which arose from 
the ^^ continual planning and reflection,'^ and from the 
training which they gave in ^^ cooperative and mutually 
helpful living." It is obvious that we have reappearing 
in these theories of Dewey the ideas of self-activity and 
social-participation first propounded by Froebel, the 
educative value of which has been explained. (See 
Chap. V, pp. 102-106.) 

Professor Dewey's educational theories may be sum- 
marized as follows. The educative process must, for 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1917 269 

both psychological and sociological reasons, consist, in 
the first place, of a series of problems that the child 
feels are vital to his own needs at the time. That is, 
it must involve self-activity, and interest. The edu- 
cative process must be, secondly, a practice in co- 
operative social activity ; school life must be a natural 
social life, in a sort of simplified miniature society. 
And, thirdly, Dewey, like Ward, insists that all the 
members of society must be given a liberal education, 
i.e. prepared to participate in all the knowledge and 
arts of civilization. 

Appraisal of Dewey's Theories. — The value of 
Dewey's theories is not so much in their originality 
as in their timeliness and their social significance. 
Whereas Froebel advocated self-activity and social- 
participation largely for psychological reasons, — 
because they quicken the learning process, — Dewey 
advocates them because he sees in them a means 
of social salvation in the present crises. The rapid 
change and manifold complexity of modern society 
demand a new type of education, especially in 
view of the fact that responsibility is so much more 
widely distributed in a democracy than in the old 
autocracy. Without a new education the new civiliza- 
tion will fail. Dewey has devoted his life largely to 
the task of working out the philosophy of a new edu- 
cation suited to the new social life into which we are 
entering. 

The social aim of interest, or self-activity, as he 



270 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

advocates it, is to generate initiative, self-reliance, 
and the problem-solving attitude of mind on the part 
of candidates for citizenship. Dewey is a pragmatist ; 
i.e. he believes that the sole test of a theory is whether 
it will " work." He looks upon life as a series of 
problematic situations, in which the business of the 
intellect is to solve the problem and make the adjust- 
ment. Social life also is a series of problematic situa- 
tions ; and the success of democracy, therefore, depends 
upon the ability of citizens to solve the problems in- 
volved in living together. Since there are so many 
social problems to solve, and since in a democracy it 
is the people who must solve the problems if they are 
to be solved at all, it follows that citizens must be 
trained as problem-solvers. This is a very salutary 
protest against the old-fashioned pedagogy with its 
memoriter methods, its mechanical drill, and its harsh 
insistence upon blind obedience. Children should be 
kept interested in their school work so far as possible, 
of course, and that possibility goes much farther than 
was dreamed of in the old pedagogy. 

But just because this doctrine was a protest against 
abuses of which nearly all teachers were conscious, 
it has unfortunately been pushed too far, giving rise 
in some quarters to a " soft-pedagogy," in which 
certain of the absurdities of Rousseau have re- 
appeared (cf. p. 33 ff.). There are problems which 
race experience has settled, and which children (or 
adults either, for that matter) can only harm them- 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1917 271 

selves and society by experimenting with. Any funda- 
mental rule of the moral law may be taken as an 
example. With respect to these it is as necessary 
as ever that children be taught to obey. There are 
some things, including ideals of duty and self-restraint, 
which race experience has demonstrated that children 
must acquire whether they are interested or not. Here 
effort, even under compulsion if necessary, is perfectly 
good pedagogy. The Dewey philosophy has done 
some harm, therefore, by its one-sided emphasis upon 
self-activity, although Dewey himself would admit all 
of the limitations to which we have referred. 

The aim of social participation is to train for the 
teamwork of modern social life. The changes of the 
times have forced upon us vastly more cooperation 
than formerly. Indeed the necessity for teamwork 
is one of the most striking characteristics of the new 
age. Families are no longer independent in the old 
sense of supplying themselves with what they use ; 
they depend for lighting, for disposal of sewage and 
garbage, for protection from fire, disease, and thieves, 
for education of their children, and for many other 
necessities, upon some sort of cooperative arrangement 
with their neighbors. Many articles are now bought 
that used to be made at home ; many services once 
looked after by the individual for himself are now 
taken care of by special occupational groups ; this 
involves getting along with the sellers of commodities 
and services, — a problem that has proved so difficult 



272 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

in some cases that municipal, state, or government 
ownership is proposed as a solution — which would 
involve more rather than less cooperation ! Methods 
of marketing, the division of labor, and the fixing of 
prices makes each of us a cog in the great economic 
machine, dependent upon all the others, and the 
success of the whole strictly conditioned by the depend- 
ability of each. Abuses like child labor, prostitution, 
and intemperance can only be abated by working 
together. There are many new sorts of experts and 
many new species of public servants whose services 
we have to make use of ; they fail us unless they possess 
a ripe sense of personal responsibility. Public ques- 
tions and political issues require that citizens consider 
the general welfare rather than their own private in- 
terest. International events are making it necessary 
for our nation to cooperate with other nations as 
never before. From all these and many other like 
considerations it follows that citizens need to be much 
more thoroughly '' team-minded " than ever, before. 
And since team-mindedness is largely a matter of habit 
the more teamwork practice young citizens can get 
in school the better citizens they are likely to become. 
This is the social function of social participation. 

The least appreciated, but the most important, item 
in the Dewey philosophy is his emphasis upon liberal 
education for all. The success of democracy depends 
upon this. It is not enough for citizens to have the 
problem-solving attitude ; they must have access to 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1917 273 

the experience of the race. Knowledge is power^ and 
in the distribution of knowledge lies the domestic 
strength of a democracy. Besides if democracy is to 
succeed it must fulfill its pledge of equal opportunity 
to all, and this is not realized when ten per cent are 
illiterate and the average have only a sixth-grade edu- 
cation. If social classes are to be fused, and the menace 
of class friction disposed of, the rich knowledge and cul- 
ture of the race must be made the common heritage of 
all. Hence the importance of Dewey's demand for uni- 
versal liberal education. It will be observed that this 
third point is an addition to the old Froebelianism, and 
more in line with Pestalozzi's contention that educa- 
tion might be used as a means of uplifting the masses. 
The Extent of Froebelian Practices. — The extent to 
which the Froebelian principles have been incorporated 
into American school practice is hardly appreciated. 
The laboratory method of teaching science contains 
an element of self-activity ; so do manual training and 
domestic science. Public programs, dramatics, glee 
clubs, bands and orchestras, all have the same philos- 
ophy at their core. All sorts of student activities, 
so called, in high school and junior high school, are 
essentially Froebelian ; they involve both self-activity 
and social-participation. They should be given a 
very much larger place in secondary education. We 
shall never make a success of universal compulsory 
attendance at secondary schools until secondary edu- 
cation is very largely made over on Froebelian lines. 



274 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



It is for this reason that scouting commends itself so 
favorably. The use of play has been discussed (p. 250) ; 
it goes without saying that that is Froebelian. Music 
in all its forms (including not only singing but orchestral 
work), clay modeling, drawing, construction work, 
^^ busy work," folk dancing, dramatization, the nu- 
merous " devices " used in primary work, are all 




Courtesy of the Victor Talking Machine Company. 
Folk Dancing. 



examples of self-activity ; many of them, of social- 
participation, also. During the past three or four 
years motivation has been a very conspicuous topic 
in the professional press, and just now the project 
method is the fad of the hour. These are the current 
forms which the demand for self-activity is taking. 
It would be hard to imagine what school life would 
be like with all these new activities eliminated ; but 
whoever can imagine such a school will be picturing 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1917 275 

to himself the schools of a century ago, or even less. 
These changes have not always, perhaps not usually, 
been introduced out of a conscious discipleship of 
Froebel, but they are none the less Froebelian in spirit 
for all that ; and we shall use and extend them all the 
more intelligently if we recognize them as such. 

The Kindergarten. — The kindergarten has come into 
more nearly universal use in school systems ; and its 
program has been modified to include activities which 
modern psychology approves as better adapted to the 
real interests of small children than were the mystical 
games invented by Froebel himself. Some kinder- 
gartners have adopted some of the materials and 
methods of Madame Montessori, an Italian teacher 
of young children, who attracted popular attention 
for a few years prior to the war. 

Psychology and Its Applications. — It is only during 
the recent period that psychology has won any ap- 
preciable place in educational science. Perhaps it 
would be more accurate to reverse the proposition, 
and say that only during the recent period has peda- 
gogy risen to the status of a science, and that that is 
due primarily to the influence of the psychologists. 
James's ^' Principles of Psychology " appeared in 1890. 
This great work introduced into America a new type 
of psychology which undertook to explain human 
nature in terms of instincts and habits, emotions, 
sense perception and thought, rather than in terms of 
theological or metaphysical abstractions. This new 



276 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

psychology has revolutionized our notions of human 
nature and has had a profound influence upon 
pedagogy. 

Child Study. — A very important branch of psy- 
chology is child study. Rousseau taught (see p. 32) 
that the child's education should be determined by 
his inner nature at the various stages of his develop- 
ment. But until we know what those various stages 
are we can hardly follow Rousseau's advice any more 
intelligently than he prescribed. That information 
child study undertakes to ascertain and present in 
scientific form. G. Stanley Hall^ President of Clark 
University, has been the leader in this movement. 
His great work on ^^ Adolescence " appeared in 1904. 
Child study has very properly been an important 
branch of instruction in normal schools and colleges, 
as it imparts an intelligent; sympathetic understanding 
of infancy, childhood, and adolescence. 

Educational Psychology. — Educational psychology 
undertakes to give an exact quantitative description 
of ^^ man's original mental equipment, . . . the in- 
herited foundations of intellect, morals, and skill, . . . 
the laws of learning in general, the improvement of 
mental functions by practice and their deterioration 
by fatigue, of the variations of individual men, . . . 
and of the influence of sex, race, immediate ancestry, 
maturity, and training in producing these variations." 
E. L. Thorndike began his monumental contributions 
to this branch of the science in 1901. Educational 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1917 277 

psychology has since contributed immensely toward 
placing education on a scientific basis. 

Mental Measurements. — Accurate measurement of 
mental phenomena and educational results is the key- 
note of this new science. Two Frenchmen^ Alfred 
Binet and Dr. Th. Simon, in 1905, invented a very clever 
and original device for discovering mentally defective 
children, and grouping those of similar mental ability. 
The Binet-Simon tests have since been developed by 
Goddard, Terman, and others, till they can now be 
used to group normal children of different mental 
abilities. The scientific measurement of intelligence 
promises to be one of the most useful inventions in 
educational practice. " Instead of being born free 
and equal we are born free and unequal, and unequal 
we shall ever remain," so far as intelligence is con- 
cerned. Obviously the school program must be varied 
to meet the needs of children of various mentalities ; 
some can never climb very far up the educational 
ladder ; some have exceptional powers that should 
be accorded special advantages ; while among the 
average mass there are various talents. Mental 
measurements will help teachers to classify such pupils 
accurately, and care for them intelligently in such 
matters as grading, selection of courses, moral direc- 
tion, and vocational guidance. Recently analogous 
tests have been extensively used in the army ; and it 
is now proposed to use them in lieu of entrance ex- 
aminations to college. 



278 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

Standard Tests. — The traditional methods of grad- 
ing pupils' work were too subjective, that is, they 
recorded too exclusively the variable opinions or even 
whims of the teacher. Examinations have been 
demonstrated to be notoriously unreliable ; the marks 
of different teachers, and even the marks of the same 
teacher at different times, varying widely. The great 
need has been for some objective standard of measure- 
ment, that would be the same for all teachers, and so 
eliminate the personal element. Standard tests have 
been invented to remedy this defect. Four closely 
related values have been distinguished : the compara- 
tive, the diagnostic, the corrective, and the incentive 
values. The tests enable teachers or superintendents 
to compare class with class or school with school on 
the basis of established standards. They reveal de- 
fects that otherwise would not be discovered. Thus 
in one city it was found that too much attention was 
being given to spelling; in another handwriting was 
being overemphasized ; another city fell below stand- 
ard in all the drill subjects; while another was up to 
standard on the average but with too wide a variation 
among schools and classes. As a result of such 
findings pupils are reclassified, courses of study and 
methods of instruction are changed, time allotments 
to the different subjects are redistributed, or a new 
technique of supervision is installed. And finally, the 
pupils' pride in their own scores, or in the rating of 
their school, furnishes an admirable incentive for work, 
especially on the drill subjects. 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1917 279 

Professor E. L. Thorndike is the pioneer in the field 
of educational measurements ; i.e. in the application 
of exact scientific measurement to the results of teach- 
ing. The first scales appeared in 1908 and 1909. Since 
those dates scales and standard tests have been pro- 
duced for most of the elementary and some of the 
secondary school subjects. Among the most widely 
known are the arithmetic tests devised and refined 
with remarkable skill by S. A. Courtis ; the hand- 
writing scale devised by Leonard Ayres ; the scale 
for English composition constructed by M. B. Hillegas ; 
and the ^' Kansas Silent Reading Tests/' devised by 
F. J. Kelly. The development of mental measure- 
ments has indorsed and abetted the development of 
educational measurements, and the studies of elimina- 
tion and retardation have created a demand for both. 
At the present time scales and tests are used in all but 
unprogressive schools everywhere. Their invention is 
regarded by educators as the most important recent 
development in pedagogical practice, since their use 
is transferring many educational problems out of the 
realm of mere opinion and into the sphere of exact 
science. 

Psychology Applied to Classroom Management. — 
The old-fashioned textbooks on pedagogy were empiri- 
cal, that is, they were based on mere common sense 
and rule of thumb. Since 1900 psychology has been 
applied to all phases of pedagogy, especially to class 
management and the technique of teaching. The 



280 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

light that psychology has thrown on the importance, 
indeed the necessity, of interest in the mental life has 
greatly stimulated the tendency to reorganize the 
schoolroom on Froebelian lines. Similarly the em- 
phasis upon individual differences has stimulated the 
demand for ungraded and special classes, and the 
mitigation of the ^^ lockstep " grading system. The 
bearing of mental hygiene on program construction, 
curriculum making, pedagogical method, and personal 
relations is beginning to receive serious consideration 
also. And the psychologist's conception that a human 
being is a psychophysical unity is importing a new 
force to the old proverb, a sound mind in a sound 
body, and is giving physical hygiene a new importance 
in education. Discipline is also being approached as 
a psychological problem. This is illustrated by Miss 
Morehouse's classification of school offenses, and in 
the tendency to approach the ^' boy problem " from 
the standpoint of scientific child study. All this has 
come about within fifteen years. 

Psychology and the Conduct of the Recitation. — 
Psychology has pushed the Herbartian formula for 
the conduct of the recitation to the wall ; within the 
past decade subject matter has been classified into 
drill lessons, knowledge or reasoning lessons, and 
appreciation lessons, corresponding to the conative, 
cognitive, and affective aspects of the mental life. 
The laws of habit building have been applied to the 
first, the laws of thinking to the second ; and, so far 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1917 281 

as psychology has hght to throw, it has been thrown 
on the problem of appreciation. This classification 
of aims and functions has rendered obsolete the term 
^' general method." The subject matter of each school 
study has been subjected to analysis ; and methods 
approaching psychological validity have been devised 
for teaching each phase of the curriculum. Books 
have been written on the teaching of the common 
branches, and special methods are being formulated 
for each subject. This analysis is being worked out 
in detail ; for example, it is said there are an even one 
hundred separate and distinct habits involved in learn- 
ing to add ; and the behavior of the eyes in rapid 
reading has been accurately observed by the aid of 
photographs, and an approved method of teaching 
rapid reading devised from the findings. If the Her- 
bartian reliance upon a single formula for all sorts of 
recitations revealed the primitive stage of educational 
science ten years ago the rapid development of the 
science in a single decade is evidenced by the minute 
analyses to which the teaching process is now being 
subjected. Standard tests are greatly encouraging 
and aiding this analysis, because they show in which 
subject, and which phase of each subject, a child is 
weak or strong. 

Formal Discipline. — The disciplinary theory (p. 21) 
has also come in for no little discussion throughout the 
period. Psychological research has sought to ascertain 
the degree of ^' transference of training " ; i.e. the ex- 



282 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

tent to which training acquired in one field is carried 
over into unrelated .fields. The conclusion appears to 
be that a given subject may have disciplinary value 
in two ways : In the first place, ideals of efficient 
workmanship are built up if the subject is well taught, 
and these may be carried over to other subjects. For 
example, if one learns what thoroughly accurate work 
means in Latin or manual training, one may apply 
the ideal in economics or bookkeeping. In the second 
place, some of the subject matter may be found to 
recur in other subjects, as Latin in all the Romance 
languages, or violin technique in the playing of other 
stringed instruments. In this way one may learn by 
wholesale, so to speak. As for the first of these values, 
i.e. right ideals of scholarly thoroughness, obviously 
it accrues chiefly from the quality of teaching rather 
than from the subject itself. It is a reason for teach- 
ing the newer subjects well, and not an argument for 
any one subject as against any other, so long as they 
are equally well taught. As for the second value, one 
learns ^' wholesale " from subjects that have the most 
general application in modern life. If economics has 
more applications than Latin, it has more disciplinary 
value, and not otherwise. It is with respect to their 
applicability in modern life that school subjects must 
stand or fall. 

Accordingly it turns out that the word '' disci- 
plinary " helps us little, if any. It would doubtless 
clear the atmosphere to eliminate the word from peda- 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1917 283 

gogical discussion altogether. The meaning assigned 
to it by the new psychology is quite different from its 
meaning in the old faculty psychology. The old word 
does not name the new idea. Moreover, the word 
itself is an obstacle to scientific discussion. It names 
a utility that certain subjects, notably Latin and 
formal mathematics, are alleged to possess, whether 
they do or not. In short, the very subjects of whose 
utility and traditional halo the present age is most 
skeptical are intrenched behind a magic word, where 
they politely decline to give an account of themselves. 
It would seem desirable, therefore, to proceed directly 
to the scientific evaluation of subjects, both new and old, 
on the basis of their social utility. This is one of the 
tasks which educational sociology is now setting itself. 

The Educational Survey. — The larger problems of 
school administration, as well as the pedagogical prob- 
lems of the classroom, are now being reduced to a 
science also. This movement has been greatly stimu- 
lated by the educational surveys that have been con- 
ducted with increasing frequency in recent years, be- 
ginning about 1910. Surveys of most of the large city 
systems, and many smaller ones, have been made, as well 
as surveys of the higher institutions of several states.^ 

The scope of an educational survey may be inferred 
from the following outline : 

1 In this connection the student will do well to familiarize himself 
with some of the most important educational surveys, as, e.g., those of 
Gary, Cleveland, Salt Lake City, St. Paul, Portland, etc. 



284 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

Outline for an Educational Survey ^ 

I. School Plant and Equipment. 

1. Facts about each building^ e.g. dimensions, 

date of construction, material, cost, condi- 
tion, fire protection, etc. 

2. Facts about each room, including hygienic 

conditions. 

3. Equipment of building as a whole. 

II. Organization, Administration, and Supervision, 

1. General organization, including a detailed ac- 

count of the powers, duties, activities, and 
efficiency of the board, superintendents, prin- 
cipals, and other officers. 

2. Business administration. 

3. Educational administration, i.e. an appraisal 

of the teaching corps and of supervision. 

III. Course of Study. 

IV. The Child. 

1. School census. 

2. Enrollment statistics, for the purpose of show- 

ing how well the system succeeds in getting 
the children of the community into the 
school. 

3. Holding power of the school, including age- 

grade distribution tables (see pp. 288, 289) 
and other similar data. 

1 Abridged and adapted from the "Thirteenth Yearbook" (Part II, 
p. 26) of the National Society for the Study of Education. 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1917 285 

4. Regularity of promotions. 

5. Health measures, such as fire protection, sani- 

tary precautions, physical education, hygiene 
instruction, and medical inspection. 

6. The educational results. Under this heading 

standard tests are given in all the school 
subjects, and the findings presented in 
graphic form (see p. 290). 
V. Teachers. 

1. Data as to age, sex, training, experience, etc. 

2. Tenure and permanency. 

3. The work of the teacher, including number of 

pupils and classes per teacher, working time, 
etc. 

4. Teachers' meetings. 

5. Salaries. 

VI. Finances. Under this heading financial records 

are appraised, expenditures are classified, 
and various unit costs {e.g. the per pupil 
cost of various subjects) are computed and 
graphically presented (pp. 286-288). 

VII. Miscellaneous Items. 

The Rise of a Science of Education. — The influence 
of educational surveys in the development of an exact 
science of education may be inferred from several facts. 
In the first place most of the important surveys have 
been conducted by the most prominent educational 
leaders of the day, such as Cubberley, Strayer, Judd, 
Coffman, Jessup, Hanus, Bobbitt, Ayres, Flexner, 
and others, including students whom they have trained. 



286 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



These men are imbued with the scientific spirit and 
committed to strictly scientific methods ; their names 
are guarantees that their work is scientific in character. 
Secondly, the scope of the above outline, and the 
minutia of detail, which cannot be shown in the out- 
line itself (a dozen pages would hardly suffice for the 
detailed outline), suggest scientific analysis. The 



Los Angeles 

Seattle 

Pittsburgh 

Boston 

Portland 

Kansas City 

Minneapolis 

St.Louis 

Washington 

Buffalo 

Newark 

Chicago 

Indianapolis 

Cleveland 

San Francisco 

Detroit 

Jersey City 

Philadelphia 

Milwaukee 

New Orleans 

Baltimore 



$6i.78 
61.18 
58.97 
56.73 
55.S8 
52.98 
52.70 
52.i0 
51M 
51.32 
50.25 
i7.i8 
i6.59 
U6.SS 
i5.08 
U.66 
i3.17 
i0.7i 
38.51 
33.07 
S2.5i 



$20 



$50 



$60 



Per Pupil-year Expense of Maintenance and Operation in 
Twenty Cities- (From the Boston Survey, 1916, p. 156.) 



scientific character of this work may be indicated, 
in the third place, by such typical illustrations of the 
treatment of data as follow. 

Scoring Buildings. — On page 291 is part, of a 
score card for scoring buildings. It is obvious that 
this card sets a standard (100 per cent), and assigns a 
definite proportion of importance to each feature of 
the building. Appraising buildings thus becomes as 
definite and scientific a procedure as scoring cattle. 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1917 



287 



Costs. — Scientific methods of statistical research 
are now being applied to the study of costs in educa- 



/ \ 


English 




\ 


/ \ 


$.16 




Mathematics 


/ Science 






$.127 


/ $.163 






^^^^-^ 


Art $.m 






History 


Tchr. "Tw. $.009 _ ':;::z:^^^ 




$.098 








Manual 


X^^^"^ /Latin 1 






Arts 






\ $.09^2 


House- \ 




\ 


V / $.06S / 


hold \ 


Commercial \ 


\^ /Occupations\ 


$.089 


\y 


\^ / 


$.086 


i 


V 



What the High School Dollar Buys (based on a study of ten towns 
in South Dakota. See Educational Administration and Supervision for 
November, 1918, p. 454). 

tion. Three charts are printed herewith to illustrate 
how the findings are graphically presented. 

Age-Grade Distribution. — A typical age-grade 
distribution table for a small school is shown on 



288 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



this page, and a graphic presentation of acceleration and 
retardation, on the next. The percentages of retarda- 
tion are obviously a serious matter; to ascertain the 



i Music 
i Phys. Edn. 
3 English 
i Math. 

5 History 

6 Household Occ'p'ns 

7 Science 

8 Latin 

9 Commerical 

10 Mod. Lang. 

11 Man' I Arts 

12 Agriculture 
IS Teacher Trg. 
n Art 



9.01S 

.OSS 
J0i5 
Ml 
.OSl 
.057 
,058 
.06 
.06i 
.07S 
.077 



Cost of High School Instruction per Pupil,-hour in Ten South 
Dakota Towns. 



A03 KSa GRADB DISTHIBUTIOH TABI3 
(gtliad out for the Bohoola of Carrlngton. M. P.. by Supt. A. L. Seh aferj 



GRADB 


AGB 


I 


II 


III 


IV 


V 


n 


VII 


nil 


IX 


X 


XI 


XII 


Total 


6 


17 


1 






















16 


7 


6 


22 























28 


8 


4 


7 


14 


1 


















26 


9 




2 


4 


19 


2 
















27 


10 






6 


8 


12 


1 














26 


11 








6 


15 


16 














37 


12 








1 


7 


12 




' 










30 


13 










6 


4 




14 










33 














1 




10 










18 


















a 










9 





























1 


















1 










1 


























































Total 


27 


32 


23 


34 


41 


34 


32 


31 










254 



Age-grade Distribution Table. 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1917 



289 



facts scientifically, and to point them out clearly are 
the first steps in the process of remedying them. 
Retardation and elimination are among the most seri- 



II 



III 



IV 



VI 



VII 



YIII 



PBR CENT OF AGB AUD GRADE DISTRIBUTION 



Accelerated 
( shaded) 



Normal 
(white) 



Retarded 
( shaded) 



I 




20^ 



20^ 



40J6 40^ 

Acceleration and Retardation Graphically Presented (the same 
data as in the accompanying age-grade distribution table). 



ous defects of our school system. When educational 
science is able to remedy such defects it will have 
made no inconsiderable progress. The surveys are 
the beginning of that progress. 



290 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 





^. 






























CO 

§ 


ik 


























CO 


2)- 








I- 




















































rJ ^ 


r<s 












% 




V 


























J 


k 
















K. 


\ 


















J 










^ 


V 


^ 


1 




b 

P 








K 












"^ 


A 




5 




- 


3 






r 


'^ 


L 










\ 


\ 


~ 


J 

6 




1 


X 












s 


V 


5 












^ 


k 










•^ 








1 


k 




























1 


r 


















t 


) 






































^ 
« 


































L 












J 










1 














J 


^ 






"■' 



OtONOO'^OCDNOO'WOCOl 
00t-t-CDCOCOlOlO-a<'^Tli-"' 




f 








■- 












rrt 


i 














/ 






s 


\ 


( 












/ 










) 












/ 










>> 






1^ 




fi, 






'0 


_ u 

cs 
-0 






^ 














1 










'^ 


k 








s 


a 














^^ 


k 






fe 


s^ 


















^ 


P 


TJ 


1 






















CO 



„ T !f 


^ T :c:i-i 


vi :i ^ 


_:i:t:::.^:"v r 


_ B:i'^:^j:_«$ , ^ 


1 _i^_E:_i-$. :^ 


_ 1 ____iK -s _ i . 


-^'j hJ 


:i::::::::::i:::::::::: 






N 00 1J1 O CO IN c 



9»ga 



CO N 00 •<)' O (N 
U3 lO ■* Tf rf 00 



ococvioo'VOcoNoo-'iioeONC 



Q^'ea 



I Til ( _ 

. CO CO lO lO- 

e!»Ba 



J> 






















1^ 






w 


l\ 














5- 








V 


\ 




















\\ 


/ 












1" 








\ 














^, 












.\u 






















\ 


\ 


















^ 


\ 








r 












\ 


Vr 


\^ 
































II 
coco 



uoi^isoduiox) "qsjiSua joj eiBog sBa9[nH 9^* ^o ^MI«"C) 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1917 



291 



III. Service System . , 

A. Heating and Ventilation . , 

1. Kjnd 

2. Installation . . . . . 

3. Air supply . . . . . 

4. Fans and motors . . . 

5. Distribution 

6. Temperature control . . 

7. Special provisions . . . 

B. Fire Protection System . , 

1. Apparatus 

2. Fireproofness . . . , 

3. Escapes 

4. Electric wiring . . . , 

5. Fire doors and partitions 

6. Exit lights and signs . 

C. Cleaning System . . . , 

1. Kind 

2. Installation .... 

3. Efl&ciency 

D. Artificial Lighting System 

1. Gas and electricity 

2. Outlets and adjustment 

3. Illumination .... 

4. Method and fixtures . 

E. Electric Service System . 

1. Clock 

2. BeU - . 

3. Telephone .... 



10 
10 
15 
10 
10 
10 
5 

10 
15 
20 

5 
10 

5 

5 

5 

10 

5 
5 
5 
5 

5 
5 
5 



70 



65 



20 



20 



15 



280 



A Cutting from One Page of Strayer's Score Card for City School Buildings. 



Pupils' Achievements. — Every school survey con- 
tains a section devoted to the measurement of the 
pupils' achievements in the school subjects. On the 
opposite page are several graphs from the St. Paul 
survey illustrating how the findings are presented to 
the public. They show that the St. Paul schools as a 
whole were below the standard in English composition, 



292 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

and that in the Galtier school, for example, the seventh 
and eighth grades were above the standard in reading 
while the other grades were below. 

The foregoing are a few samples of the types of 
studies being made in connection with school surveys. 
They give very little hint, however, of the scope of 
such studies, i.e. of the great range and variety of 
school problems that are being studied in similar 
fashion.^ 

Standards. — But perhaps even more significant 
than the scope of the surveys is the fact that from 
them educational standards are gradually being derived. 
For example in the table on page 286, Buffalo or 
Newark would be taken as the median, i.e. the point 
above and below which the number is equal. About 
$51 is the median cost per pupil-year for operation and 
maintenance. After enough cities have been similarly 
studied the median cost may be taken as the standard 
cost, by comparison with which all school systems can 
then be judged as high or low. In the same way 
standards are gradually being worked out for every 
phase of school administration mentioned in the survey 
outline above. These standards'^ enable any superin- 

1 If the student will take the trouble to make the above survey 
outhne over into a list of questions the exercise will give him some 
idea of the scope of modern educational science. 

2 After having made the question list, if the student will remind 
himself that educational science is gradually formulating the answers 
that good schools ought to give to each and every one of his questions, 
he will get some notion of what standards mean, and what their value is. 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1917 293 

tendent to keep his own survey posted up to date all 
the time. In other words, the surveys are producing 
objective standards by which Superintendents can 
measure the quality of their own schools, instead of 
depending upon their own opinion, which is often 
whimsical. This means that school administration is 
becoming an exact science ; which is a new departure 
in education ! 

Theories Underlying Curricular Changes. — The 
actual changes in the elementary curriculum have 
been traced. It remains to say a few words about 
the theory of those changes. From 1890 to 1910 Her- 
bartianism dominated curricular theor}^ (cf. pp. 263 ff.). 
As has been stated, it put history-literature material 
at the core of the curriculum, arranged it according 
to the culture-epochs theory, and correlated all other 
materials around that core. This theory actually 
exerted an immense influence upon practice, as any 
one can see for himself who will take the trouble to 
tabulate the history-literature material actually in- 
cluded in any elementary curriculum. The declining 
influence of Herbartianism between 1905 and 1915 
was due largely to the increasing influence of psychology 
in general and child study in particular, which not 
only emphasized the necessity of adapting the cur- 
riculum to the interests of the child (as Rousseau 
advocated), but also showed increasingly what school 
exercises are so adapted and what are not. The 
changes that were listed above (p. 273) as Froebelian 



294 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

in spirit were largely due to the immediate influence 
of child study. It helped to create a sentiment in 
favor of a school program that would furnish self- 
activity to the pupils. 

Educational Sociology. — More recently sociology is 
asserting itself as a guide for the curriculum maker. 
Beginning with Ward^ sociologists have insisted that 
the elementary and secondary curriculums should be 
liberal ; that iS; that they should expose all children 
to all the various sorts of interests which civilization 
possesses; including science^ literature, history, the 
arts, social relations, economic laws, moral ideals, and 
industrial skills. The popular demand for industrial 
training during the past ten years appealed to sociology 
for indorsement ; but sociology has indorsed industrial 
education only on condition that it be accompanied by 
a liberal cultural education. Educators who paid 
sociology ignorant lip service have advocated adapting 
the curriculum to the findings of local industrial sur- 
veys, so as to prepare the children of a given community 
for the industries of that community ; but true sociology 
is resisting early specialization, and is urging the neces- 
sity for universal secondary education of a liberal sort. 
What the contents of a liberal curriculum ought to be 
is a question that can be answered only by students of 
sociology, since this is an age of social problems which 
pupils must be prepared to solve. F. G. Bonser, 
of Columbia, and J. F. Bobbitt, of Chicago, are 
leaders in this type of work. Within the past 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1917 295 

three or four years the social reasons for social partici- 
pation (see p. 104) are being expounded by sociological 
philosophers^ most conspicuous of whom is Smith of 
Kansas. It is also becoming increasingly evident that 
the aim of education is not merely individual but 
social welfare as well. In fact the philosophy of edu- 
cation is now being rewritten from the sociological point 
of view. 

Popular Demands. — The curricular changes of the 
past thirty years have not been due so much, however, 
to the guidance of educational theorists as to the 
pressure of popular protest against the old curriculum, 
and popular demand for a new one. Hundreds of 
articles on the subject of education have appeared 
in the leading popular magazines during the past 
ten years. Any student who will take the trouble to 
assemble a list of titles of such articles will have his 
eyes opened to the real force that is molding the edu- 
cation of this democracy. Nevertheless popular de- 
mand, without the ballast of philosophy, would tend 
to sacrifice the broad humanistic aims of education 
to the immediately practical, i.e. to the narrow " bread- 
and-butter " aim. In the long run such an aim would 
defeat itself. 

Teacher Training. — While there has been con- 
siderable growth in the facilities for teacher training 
in the past thirty years it is hardly adequate to the 
growth of school attendance and curriculums, nor to 
the growth of pedagogical science. The accompanying 



296 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 



table gives some idea of the greatly increased at- 
tendance of students in teacher-training courses. 



Students in Teacher-Training Courses 



1900-1 



1905-6 



1910-11 



1916-16 



In colleges and univer- 
sities 

In normal schools . . 
In high schools . . . 



10,472 
63,402 
20,283 



13,771 
68,937 
14,549 



11,256 
84,095 
19,926 



48,018 

111,772 

38,456 



So far as normal schools are concerned there has 
been in the past fifteen years a tendency to make a 
two-year course for high-school graduates the standard 
course. The practice of offering short courses for 
eighth-grade graduates is decreasing. A few normal 
schools have developed four-year college courses. 
Emphasis has been placed increasingly on professional 
courses and the pedagogical study of the common 
branches^ instead of mere academic reviews. The 
complexity of the modern educational situation is 
reflected, however, in the increasing variety of special 
courses, designed to train for special types of teaching ; 
and with the rise of pedagogical science there has 
been an increasing variety in the practice of normal 
schools as to the amount and kind of professional 
material required. This variety indicates some un- 
certainty on the part of normal schools as to just 
what their task is. During the past three or four 
years several notable studies of the normal school 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1917 297 

situation have been made, the most important of which 
is that by the Carnegie Foundation. The object of 
these studies is to formulate normal school standards. 

The first college courses in education were offered 
only about thirty years ago (see p. 164). The number 
and variety of such courses have gradually increased. 
Between 1910 and 1915 there developed a marked 
tendency to reorganize teacher training in colleges 
and universities. In 1915 ^ twenty-three institutions 
had " schools "or " colleges " of education, and 
twenty-four had " departments " of education. These 
colleges usually prepare for high-school teaching and 
administrative work, while the normal schools, excepting 
those having four-year curriculums, commonly confine 
themselves to the preparation of elementary teachers. 
In 1915 courses were being offered in history of educa- 
tion, philosophy of education, educational psychology, 
child study, special methods, and practice teaching. 
Courses in educational psychology, educational meas- 
urements, and school administration were beginning to 
appear. The largest growth in the last five years has 
been in the field of administration, which includes the 
scientific aspects of pedagogy just described (pp. 283- 
293) under standard tests and surveys. 

The training of elementary teachers, especially for 

rural schools, has long been considered one of the 

functions of the high school. Recently the growth 

of teacher training in high schools and county normal 

^Bolton, in "School and Society," Dec. 11, 1915. 



298 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

schools has been rapid. In 1917 twenty-one states 
had recognized teacher-training departments in second- 
ary schools. Wisconsin has county training schools 
entirely separate from other schools. Michigan^ 
Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas, Nevada, and Ohio 
have county training work in special departments of 
the high schools. Thirteen states have training courses 
as part of the ordinary high school work. Several 
other states do similar work without special legal pro- 
vision for it. 

Teachers' Voluntary Associations. — Teachers' vol- 
untary associations have performed an increasing 
service in recent years. The National Education 
Association has grown to large proportions, and since 
1890 the winter meeting of the Department of Superin- 
tendence has been of increasing importance. The Her- 
bart Society, — now known as the National Society for 
the Study of Education, — has been mentioned (p. 264). 
The Religious Education Association was organized 
in 1903. It holds annual conventions of increasing 
importance, and issues a bi-monthly magazine. The 
North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary 
Schools has figured largely in the adjustment of college- 
entrance requirements since it created a commission 
for that purpose in 1902. The number of associations 
listed in the Educational Directory of the Bureau of 
Education runs into the hundreds. 

Pedagogical Literature. — Educational literature has 
been made, over since 1890. '^ There is really not a 



THE RECENT PERIOD, 1890-1917 299 

single textbook or handbook and indeed few reference 
books in education of any importance that were pub- 
lished prior to 1900. Very many of the educational 
journals have been established since then, and the 
character of almost every one has been profoundly 
revised." The following are some of the new maga- 
zines : American School Board Journal, 1891 ; School 
Review, 1892 ; Primary Education, 1892 ; Pedagogical 
Seminary, 1897 ; Teachers College Record, 1900 ; Ele- 
mentary School Journal, 1900 ; Journal of Educational 
Psychology, 1910 ; School and Society, 1915 ; Edu- 
cational Administration and Supervision, 1915 ; and 
Journal of Educational Research, 1920. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 

The Significance of the War. — The Great War marks 
an epoch : it is the pivotal event in the shift from 
the handicraft-monarchy to the machine-democracy 
regime. Its epochal significance will become more and 
more apparent as the centuries pass. Already it has 
had profound effects upon all institutions ; upon 
education no less than any other. This is true of 
education not only in America, but the world over. 
The present outlook for the American public school can 
be understood only by understanding what the War 
has poured into the current of our history. 

War-Time Activities in the Schools. — During the 
period of our active participation in the War the 
schools engaged in several kinds of special war- 
time activities. Definite provision was organized for 
the school children, as such, to take part in the 
great enterprises upon which the whole nation was 
concentrating its energies. They bought Thrift 
Stamps, they knitted sweaters and socks, they 
planted war gardens and canned fruits and vege- 
tables, they collected material to fight poison gas, 
they gathered up books and magazines, they even 

300 



THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 301 

made four-minute speeches. The Junior Red Cross 
was organized to direct these activities ; and is 
still continuing its work, though on a peace foot- 
ing, with two chief aims : first, to train children for 
citizenship, and secondly, to enlist their sympathy 
and help for suffering childhood the world over. This 
war-time work was part of a great national propaganda, 
carried on by the government, to unite the nation 
in one great common purpose. It illustrated how the 
schools can be utilized to mold public opinion. It 
furnished a splendid demonstration in practice of the 
value of self-activity and social participation (cf. pp. 
102 ff., 273 ff .) as pedagogical methods. It also illus= 
trated how effective the school can be in moral educa- 
tion ; for if the school can inculcate so successfully the 
ideals of patriotism, surely it can, if it tries, inculcate 
the ideals of the peace-time virtues as well. 

School Attendance in War-Time. — The War, and 
the resultant demand for labor at high prices, affected 
the attendance at school ; the tempting wages induced 
a good many older boys and girls to drop out of school. 
Attendance laws were laxly enforced. In Europe, 
conditions were much worse, of course ; teachers 
were at the front, buildings were requisitioned for 
hospitals, coal was hard to get, food was scarce and 
both pupils and teachers were undernourished. 
Children of eleven and twelve years of age were re- 
leased, and juvenile delinquency increased alarmingly. 
France warned us against neglecting our schools. 



302 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

Lessons of the War. — The War taught us some 
important lessons about education. In some cases 
they were lessons that we already knew, though in 
a vague, ineffective way. The War retaught them, 
with an emphasis that will surely take effect. For 
the next thirty years a chief responsibility of educators 
and teachers will be to put these lessons into practice. 

The Schools Make the Nation. — Perhaps the most 
fundamental of all was the new illustration of the old 
principle that a nation is what its schools make it ; 
or, in other words, that whatever group or doctrine 
gains control of the schools can in a generation or two 
mold the nation at will. The schools of Germany 
had been controlled by the imperial party ever since 
1848. The subject matter of the curriculum had been 
selected with a view to inculcating the imperialistic 
ambitions. History in particular had been taught in 
such a way as to set up as models the ancient mili- 
taristic empires, Assyria and Rome. The discipline 
of the German schools had served to render every 
citizen immediately responsive to authority. The 
German efficiency was traceable in large part to the 
rigorous thoroughness of pedagogical method. As for 
France, her magnificent resistance amazed us. Then 
came the assurance that the French soldiers^ loyalty 
and devotion had been inculcated by the French 
schools ; and we began to inquire what their methods 
of moral instruction had been. In England H. G. 
Wells raised the question as to what the schools had 



THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 303 

been doing for a generation, that such a crisis could 
have come so unexpectedly (cf. p. 262) ; and intimated 
that the schools might have done very much better 
work in preparing the masses for their responsibilities 
of both war and peace. The reforms of 1918 indicated 
that English public opinion shared his point of view. 
Russia became the outstanding illustration of what 
calamities can come upon a great people as a penalty 
for illiteracy. As a result there is evident throughout 
the world a new insight as to the function of education 
and a new resolution to build new school systems 
adequate to the new demands of a new age. 

The Extent of Physical Defects. — In the first 
selective draft three quarters of a million young men, 
or nearly one third of those actually examined, were 
rejected on account of physical defects. Many of 
these defects were such as could have been remedied 
had they been treated in time. These appalling 
figures set the nation thinking : clearly, such defects 
are serious handicaps to the pursuits of peace as well 
as war. Their early treatment would greatly increase 
the efficiency and happiness of our people. The 
result of this discovery was to give a new impetus to 
school hygiene, medical inspection, school clinics, and 
physical education. 

Illiteracy. — Another disquieting revelation was the 
high percentage of illiteracy that still exists among us. 
The first selective draft showed that there were in this 
country 386,000 males between the ages of twenty-one 



304 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

and thirty-one who could not read an American news- 
paper nor write a letter. From these findings it was 
inferred that there must be approximately 18,000,000 
people in the country who are unable to read the English 
language. The census of 1910 had reported 8,608,432 
illiterates. For a democracy to send overseas thou- 
sands of totally illiterate young men to fight for 
democracy was a startling revelation of the incon- 
sistency of democracy. We began to suspect that we 
had been deceiving ourselves about free public uni- 
versal education, and to realize that we have only the 
beginnings of a really effective educational system. 
Dr. F. E. Spaulding startled the nation with the 
declaration that on the average we are a nation of 
barely sixth graders ! And so the findings of the draft 
have taught us that we must make our schools in 
reality what they have been only in our imaginations. 
The fact that our illiterates are not all foreigners and 
negroes, but that a surprisingly large proportion of 
them are native whites from the rural districts, served 
to emphasize the rural problem. 

The Need for Americanization. — Another revelation 
of the War was the un-American character of our 
population. Large numbers of our soldiers were so 
ignorant of our language that they could not under- 
stand orders. Neighborhoods of enemy-sympathizers 
were alarmingly numerous. Our whole society was 
honeycombed with spies, mostly of foreign origin. 
The most radical agitators against our institutions 



THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 305 

were found to be immigrants and aliens. We learned 
that the need for Americanization was desperate. 

One thing that came to light in the war-time struggle 
against pro-German disloyalty at home was the fact 
that there is a very large number o? private or parochial 
schools where instruction is carried on in a foreign 
language. The crisis clearly revealed the dangerous 
possibilities of such un-American institutions. This 
revelation raised the whole question of private schools. 
State laws have permitted attendance at such schools as 
a substitute for the required attendance at regular 
public schools, but without the legal regulations and 
the supervision necessary to enforce the standards 
and objectives of the public schools. To enforce 
such standards and objectives is the next logical step 
in the process of secularizing education which has been 
going on for nearly a century (cf. p. 140) ; and the 
necessity for it is now very evident. 

Vocational Education. — The relative scarcity of 
men with technical training to meet the demands of 
war has given a considerable impetus to vocational 
and technical education (cf. p. 248). Educational 
work for the rehabilitation of disabled soldiers has 
suggested the utility of this particular service for the 
victims of industrial accidents. 

Applying the Mental Measurements. — The success 
of the mental tests in selecting men of special ability 
for special service has demonstrated the utility of 
such measurements in both education and industry. 



306 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

In fact, as this book goes to press (1920) one of the 
outstanding interests of the hour is the problem 
of individualizing teaching by the aid of mental and 
educational measurements. Numerous instructional 
devices are being invented whereby a pupil can ad- 
vance through the elementary grades at a rate de- 
termined by his own ability, interest, and diligence. 
In fact, the rigid grading system, that has been adhered 
to for half a century (cf. p. 157), and applied even 
where it is least applicable (e.g. in rural schools and 
Sunday schools), seems on the point of being super- 
seded, just as the monitorial system was, nearly a 
century ago (cf. p. 57), and for practically the same 
reasons. There is some indication that mental tests 
may come into general use in determining fitness for 
college entrance. They promise to be useful also in 
vocational guidance. 

Education as a Cure for the Social Unrest. — There 
is another lesson that we have learned from the display 
of radicalism since the Armistice and the wave of 
reactionary repression with which it was met. Radi- 
calism is a symptom of social and industrial injustices ; 
they breed it just as marshes breed malaria. The 
way to kill radicalism is to correct the injustices, just 
as the way to stamp out malaria is to drain and oil 
the marshes where the mosquitoes breed. The public 
schools can do two things that will help this situation. 
They can, in the first place, teach economics and 
sociology systematically, so as to enlighten the public 



THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 307 

regarding our social problems (cf. pp. 186 ff.). The 
need for this change in the curriculum is rapidly gain- 
ing recognition. Numerous agencies are advocating it. 
A committee of the N. E. A. recommends Social 
Science (including history) as a required subject 
throughout every year of both the junior and senior 
high schools, to be preceded by citizenship instruction 
in the elementary grades. In the second place, the 
school might do more to equip the masses for the 
struggle of life. There is a growing conviction that 
vocational education ought to be universal, and it is 
being vigorously promoted under the Smith-Hughes 
Law (cf. p. 245). There is also a growing recognition 
of the fact that general intelligence is quite as important 
as special training. Accordingly, high schools and 
colleges are being increasingly patronized by the 
people ; and continuation schools are being advocated 
(p. 144) for those who are compelled, under present 
conditions, to leave school early. It should be 
recognized even more clearly than it is that such 
measures are necessary to cure the social unrest. 

Two or three other important educational needs 
came to the focus of public attention during the summer 
of 1918, though not quite so directly as a result of the 
War as those already mentioned. 

The Plight of the Rural School. — One of these is 
the problem of rural education. The success of 
democracy depends upon the education of the masses ; 
but 60% of the masses get their education in the 



308 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

schools of the open country and the small villages. 
The city depends upon the country : the cities cannot 
thrive if country life is not sound. Hence, it follows 
that ^' if the rural schools fail, rural civilization will 
fail ; if rural civilization fails, American civilization 
will fail." In the face of this necessity the plight of 
the rural schools is as follows : ^ 

1. The average school year is more than two months 
shorter than in the city. 

2. For every one dollar the city child has invested 
in his teacher, the rural child has only fifty-five 
cents. 

3. The typical country school teacher is an eighteen- 
year-old girl, with a tenth grade education, who stays 
but one year in a place, and whose only supervision 
is one or two visits annually from a country super- 
intendent with little or no professional training. 

4. Most rural schools (80% of them) are held in 
poorly furnished, one-room buildings, where recitations 
are but ten or fifteen minutes in length, and only 
meager elementary instruction is given, with nature 
study, manual training, home economics, and even 
agriculture omitted. 

The results are that the proportion of native-born 
illiteracy is six times as high in rural as in urban 
territory, and that a very small percentage, indeed, 
of rural children ever graduate from high school. 
Further results are that the farmers seem incapable 
1 N. E. A. Bulletin, Commission Series, Number Four, 1918. 



THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 309 

of producing their own leaders for their own great 
poHtical movements^ that the percentage of rural 
tenancy keeps steadily increasing^ and that the country 
population is constantly being sifted, those most 
capable of developing into leaders drifting regularly 
to the cities. The remedy for these conditions is to 
build up in the country districts a school system as 
good as we have in the towns and cities. This must, 
of course/ include high schools — any fraction of the 
population which is left without high schools is thereby 
condemned to a servile status. Hence, the necessity 
for consolidation. We have been discussing this 
problem of rural education for fifty years (see p. 180) ; 
the time has come when it must be solved. 

The solution of this problem will be reached, it is 
agreed, through increased federal aid to schools. 
" The U. S. Census also shows that the most rural 
group of states has the largest percentage of illiteracy 
and that per capita wealth is in direct proportion to 
the percentage of intelligence or literacy. But the 
per capita cost of education for the rural population 
is greater than that of education for the urban popu- 
lation. The states and sections of this nation, there- 
fore, in which the need and the cost of education are 
greatest have the least wealth with which to provide 
it. Accordingly, no equalization of educational op- 
portunity for all the children of the nation is possible 
without the aid of the whole nation through Federal 
appropriation distributed to each part of the nation 



310 



THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 




THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 311 

according to the needs of each." ^ This is a principle 
toward which our educational experience has been 
pointing for a long while (cf. pp. 136, 177 &., 213). 

The Special Needs of the South. — The urgency of 
federal aid is inferred from the handicaps and special 
needs of the South, as indicated by the accompanying 
maps. The causes for these conditions are historical 
(cf. pp. 124, 151/180). It should be understood in all 
other parts of the country that the South is making 
heroic and highly intelligent efforts to help herself. 
Some of the most constructive educational programs 
to be found anywhere are now being worked out by 
southern states. But the South needs and deserves 
the help of the whole nation. 

The Shortage of Teachers. — The most alarming 
educational crisis precipitated by the War is the 
shortage of teachers. It was pointed out in an N. 
E. A. bulletin ^ in 1918 that out of the approximately 
600,000 teachers in the United States one half (a) have 
had no more than a high school education, (6) have 
had no professional training, (c) are less than twenty- 
six years of age, and (d) serve in the schools only four 
or five years. One sixth of these 600,000 teachers 
(a) have had less than a tenth grade education, (h) are 
less than twenty years old, and (c) serve two years or 
less. Fully one half of the next generation of American 
voters are being taught by teachers of meager general 
education and no special training. Normal schools, 

^ Commission Series, Number Four. 2 Jbid., Number Three. 



312 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

the bulletin asserted, are penuriously supported, 
understaffed, and insufficiently patronized. Due to 
rise in prices, which practically doubled the cost of 
living between 1914 and 1920, and to the attractive 
wages offered in other occupations, and to the demand 
for trained workers in other fields of social service, 
desertions from the ranks of teaching have been 
enormous. It was officially stated ^ during 1920 that 
there had been a loss of students in the state normal 
schools amounting to 25 per cent and in some states 50 
per cent ; that there were 18,279 schools closed be- 
cause of lack of teachers, and 41,900 schools taught by 
teachers characterized as " below standard but taken 
on temporarily" ; that at least 15,000 teaching posi- 
tions in public high schools would be without properly 
qualified teachers in September, 1920 ; and that those 
upon whom reliance for leadership might be placed 
were being drawn away from supervisory and adminis- 
trative positions. It might have been added that 
on account of the reduced purchasing power of their 
salaries, thousands of those remaining are being 
subjected to strain and anxiety, that cannot but 
decrease their efficiency, lower the professional morale, 
and discourage promising candidates for the profession. 
Thus, at the precise time when a very great educational 
advance is most urgently needed, a shortage of qualified 
teachers is doubling the difficulty. The underlying 
cause, of course, is that the purchasing power of the 
1 See " School Life," February 15, July 1. 



THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 313 

dollar has been reduced to half. It should be added, 
however, that the public has already (1920) reacted 
to the situation by granting a sharp increase in salaries, 
but with least promptness in the case of the best 
trained educators. 

Shall Teachers Unionize ? — The high cost of living 
has stimulated a movement to unionize teachers under 
the American Federation of Labor. The claim is that 
the union gets results where otherwise a deaf ear is 
turned toward teachers' pleas for better salaries. But 
the leaders of the profession are almost unanimously 
opposed to it. They contend that teachers have the 
very unique social function of creating a safe public 
opinion by distributing impartially to all a knowledge 
of the unbiased truth ; and that if they were to take 
sides on the labor-capital controversy, they could no 
longer perform that function successfully. The leaders 
further urge that in the long run teachers can safely 
put their trust in a professional attitude toward their 
work and in an appeal to public opinion. To further 
professional solidarity the National Education Asso- 
ciation was in 1920 reorganized on a representative 
plan, based on state and local units. 

The Program of the N. E. A. Commission. — After 
this survey of the present emergency in education, the 
task of the next generation of teachers must be obvious. 
The present leaders have already made a vigorous 
attack upon the problem. During the summer of 
1918 a commission of the National Education Associa- 



314 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

tion, composed of twenty-nine leading educators, 
formulated a " program for education/' This program 
was drafted into the Smith-Towner bill now pending 
before Congress. This bill, though it may never be 
enacted into law in its present form, will be of historic 
significance as indicating the forward movement to 
which the educators of this period are trying to rally 
the public. 

The chief provisions of the bill are : 
I. To create a " federal department of education 
with a Secretary in the President's Cabinet. 
This provision aims to give the same recognition 
to education as is now given to agriculture, 
labor, etc. 
II. To appropriate $100,000,000 annually, to be 
distributed as follows : 

1. To remove illiteracy, three fortieths, or 
$7,500,000. 

2. To Americanize the foreigners, three 
fortieths, or $7,500,000. 

3. To promote physical and health education 
and recreation, two tenths, or $20,000,000. 

4. To equalize educational opportunities of 
public schools of less than college grade, 
particularly rural schools, five tenths, or 
$50,000,000. 

5. To extend and improve facilities for prepara- 
tion of teachers in public schools, particularly 
rural schools, three twentieths, or $15,000,000. 



THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 315 

The reasons for each of these items must be clear 
from the foregoing pages ; and the relative importance 
of each is indicated by the size of the various proposed 
appropriations. 

Education Abroad. — Abroad there are indications 
of a great educational awakening, the most significant 
single feature of which is the extension of secondary 
education. There appears to be a universal recognition 
of the fact that the mere elementary education of the 
masses is entirely inadequate to the needs of the new 
democracy. These new educational reforms ^^ repre- 
sent a genuine attempt to realize the ideal for which 
the War has been fought." 

England. — In England the Fisher Act was passed 
in August, 1918. It extends compulsory education 
to the age of fourteen (or, by local option, to sixteen), 
provides for medical inspection and treatment to 
eighteen, establishes " nursery schools" for children 
from two to six, enacts compulsory continuation school 
attendance to eighteen, provides financial aid to poor 
but able pupils, concentrates supervision of child 
labor, recreation, and health in the hands of school 
authorities, and improves arrangements for govern- 
mental support and administration of all schools. 
This act represents a great popular movement pro- 
moted by educational statesmen and vigorously sup- 
ported by British labor. It is best understood as 
a culmination of the acts of 1870 and 1902 (cf. pp. 
184, 22^). By enacting such a law as this while 



316 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

engaged in a desperate struggle for national existence, 
Great Britain aroused the amazement and admiration 
of the world; and set an example from which we in 
America may well take a lesson. In the past England 
has been tardy in her educational development ; the 
Act of 1918 bids fair to put her in the lead. 

France. — In France ^ educational progress has taken 
the form of agitation and the development of public 
opinion. Legal action and official decrees have been 
fragmentary. On the whole^ France appears to be 
moving toward objectives quite similar to those of the 
Fisher Act in England. There is a clear demand that 
secondary education be extended (especially to girls) 
and that its content be made more democratic and 
practical. 

Germany. — In Germany ^ the outstanding edu- 
cational reform is the widespread demand for the 
Einheitschule. This would mean a uniform com- 
pulsory system of education for all children between 
the ages of six and twelve^ the abolition of the private 
Vorschule, the postponement of secondary education 
until twelve or later, and the opening of secondary 
opportunities to all classes of society alike. It will be 
seen by comparison with the old system (cf. pp. 61, 
224) that the new Einheitschule signifies the complete 
breakdown of the caste-system education in Germany. 
The War has made the German schools safe for de- 
mocracy. 

1 See U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin No. 21. 1919. 



THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 317 

Russia. — From the meager reports that came out 
of Russia during the first half of 1920 it appears that 
the Bolsheviki are undertaking to carry out the 
most ambitious educational reforms. A Commis- 
sariat of Education was created in 1918^ and the 
plan of the new Commissary involves a uniform 
industrial school in which all children of the Soviet 
Republic are to receive compulsory education between 
the ages of eight and eighteen. The schools are to be 
of two grades, the first for pupils from eight to thirteen, 
the second for pupils from thirteen to seventeen. 
There is to be a kindergarten for younger children. 
All private schools are said to have been taken over by 
the state. The children of rich and poor are to be 
treated quite alike, and the government is to furnish 
food, clothing, and shelter when necessary. Schools 
are for both sexes together, there is to be one teacher 
for every twenty-five pupils, and advancement to the 
higher schools is to be on the basis solely of ability. 
Subject matter and methods are to be radically 
revolutionized. The central aim is to instill practical 
familiarity with productive industry. The curriculum 
is to be organized around industry, and the methods 
based upon interest and voluntary self-direction. 

The reports also indicated that a great drive had 
been going on against illiteracy. The literate portion 
of the population was mobilized to teach the illiterate. 
Part-time schools were organized. Penalties were 
imposed for failing to acquire the ability to read and 



318 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

write. Illiteracy was said to have been reduced from 
30% to 8% in Petrograd; and in the Bolshevist army 
from 85% to 40%. The People's Commissary pre- 
dicted that in three years illiteracy would be wiped 
out in Russia, where before the Revolution there are 
said to have been 100,000,000 illiterates. 

It will be interesting to watch Russia as the years 
go by to see how much of this amazing program she 
can succeed in putting into actual practice. 

These four countries have been selected for de- 
scription here because they are the countries in which 
we are most interested. But the reforms there are 
not exceptional, they are typical of similar movements 
almost everywhere. Which fact suggests that unless 
we actually achieve the reforms being advocated here 
we shall fall behind the rest of the world. 

A Glance into the Future. — One function of history 
is to show us what we ought to favor and what we 
ought to oppose. Having traced the growth of our 
chief educational movements, the student is now in 
a position to see what they give promise of growing 
into, and what they may be expected to do for our 
democracy. It may now be worth while to look into 
the future and attempt a forecast of the school system 
that America will need a generation or two hence. 
From the foregoing pages it must be clear that the 
schools are built to meet the needs of the civilization 
they minister to, and to create the civilization of the 
future. What then is the future civilization that 



THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 319 

America is now in the process of building, and what 
kind of schools will be necessary to create and maintain 
that civilization? 

The New Super-Civilization. — Few persons have 
been taught history in such a way as to give them 
a bird's-eye view of the race's past back into remote 
prehistoric times. Without such a bird's-eye view 
of social evolution one is unlikely to read the prophecy 
that lies in current events. But with such a prospective 
the prophecy is plain enough : we are passing through 
the greatest change in history. We are just in the pro- 
cess of entering a super-civilization as much superior to 
the civilization of the past forty centuries as that civili- 
zation was superior to the savagery of prehistoric tribes. 
It was the domestication of plants and animals, together 
with the invention of monarchy and slavery which 
that domestication caused, which lifted mankind 
from savagery to civilization. Recently, the race has 
domesticated, so to speak, steam, electricity, bacteria, 
and chemical affinities, and invented democracy and 
liberty. These will lift the race to a super-civilization. 
In fact, that is what is happening : the war and the 
social unrest are the birth-pains of a new social order. 
^- When the new super-civilization fully arrives we 
shall have such a mastery over nature (through natural 
science) as to supply our needs abundantly and pro- 
tect ourselves from disease ; we shall have such a 
mastery over social forces (through social science) 
that we shall be able to abolish war, and to pass 



320 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

prosperity, leisure, and the means of happiness around 
quite fairly to everybody ; we shall (through the use 
of art in its various forms) have such resources for 
wholesome recreation that the vices will largely lose 
their temptation ; and we shall (through morality 
and religion) acquire sufficient control over our own 
passions so as to escape much of the pain we now 
suffer. These the new super-civilization will achieve, 
just as civilization (contrasted with savagery) achieved 
protection from wild animals and the climate, a depend- 
able supply of food and clothing, and the means of 
accumulating wealth and culture. But whether the 
new order will come promptly and peacefully, or after 
long struggle and delay, we cannot tell. It will all 
depend upon how rapidly the whole mass of people 
master natural and social science, acquire culture, 
and develop high character. In other words, it 
depends upon whether we succeed in building promptly 
the new schools of the new age. 

The New Schools of the New Age : Curriculum. — 
What kind of schools will the new age require to insure 
its prompt success? They will have to look after the 
health of the children from birth to maturity, and 
teach them how to take care of their own health there- 
after. This is the prophecy of medical inspection 
and health instruction. They will have to prepare 
young people for some useful work in the world : 
this is what vocational education and guidance are 
pointing toward. They will have to train girls to 



THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 321 

be good home-keepers — for without good homes 
there can be no good society : domestic science is 
only the beginning of this. They will have to pro- 
vide young people and old with wholesome tastes in 
recreation : this will grow out o^ the wider use of the 
school plant, the boy scout movement , and other like 
tendencies. The schools of the new social order will 
have to provide substance for the higher life : hence 
we should encourage what fortunate beginnings w^e 
already have in art instruction, public school music, 
literature, and other cultural studies. They will — in 
cooperation with the church — have to solve the 
unsolved problem of moral education ; it is of funda- 
mental importance. And above all, perhaps, they will 
have to teach the people what the correct solutions 
are for such social problems as taxation, immigration, 
monopoly, the capital-labor controversy, and many 
others ; for until these are solved, there can be no 
super-civilization, but only chaos and struggle. 

Universal High School Graduation. — If the reader 
sees the necessity for such a curriculum as this, he will 
realize the importance of higher schools. Elementary 
schools can do little more than furnish the necessary 
preparation for the real education that is necessary. 
The growth of high schools in this country during the 
last fifty years, and the new movement abroad, in- 
dicate an instinctive discernment of their function in 
the new era. Nothing short of universal secondary 
education will serve the needs of the new democracy ; 



322 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

and even that must be supplemented by open oppor- 
tunity to the higher learning. If our high schools 
make only the same rate of growth in the next fifty 
years that they have made in the past fifty, they will 
barely keep up to the needs of society. 

The New Technique. — The new school requires 
a new method. The old subjects have to be taught 
in a new way in order to make room for the new 
subjects. For the new subjects a new method has 
to be worked out. For the new type of high school 
there are almost no precedents, especially because 
it must cater to the diverse capacities and varied needs 
of all sorts of children. Furthermore, to spend more 
money on school expansion would only be to waste 
much of it unless it were administered efficiently. 
Hence, the absolute necessity for a new technique. 
This indicates the use we shall have for the new science 
of education that the last two decades have begun : 
the new schools of the future would be impossible 
without it. 

The Reason for Federal Aid. — Universal is the 
magic word ! In monarchies of the old regime ma- 
jorities were kept in step through compulsion by the 
few. Now the majorities rule : they must have in- 
telligence and character. Ignorant and vicious minor- 
ities even are dangerous to democracies, extremely 
dangerous, unless they are negligibly small. The ex- 
istence of any considerable class of ignorant, degraded 
citizens threatens the very life of democracy. This 



THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 323 

is the warning of I. W. W.-ism and pro-Germanism ; 
it is the menace of illiteracy. Unless all share in the 
education outlined above, we shall never be able to 
pull together on any program of progress ; instead, our 
population will be made up of numerous discordant 
groups, each pulling in the direction of his own par- 
ticular hobby or interest. That, of course, would 
mean the long delay of the new and better world for 
which this age so anxiously waits. 

This explains the necessity for federal support and 
supervision of education. This principle has been de- 
veloping for more than half a century (cf. pp. 177 ff.) ; 
the next half century must carry it very much farther 
indeed. The handicapped sections, including the 
South and the rural regions, should have just as good 
schools as Cleveland or Minneapolis. It is for this 
social reason also that we must apply the principle 
of aid to promising poor children very much farther 
than we have done as yet. Free tuition and in some 
states free books we have already achieved. Just 
what further aid should be furnished it may not now 
be safe to predict ; but poverty should cease to be 
an acceptable excuse for letting children drop out of 
school before finishing the twelfth grade, nor should 
any capable youth be deprived of higher learning 
because his parents are poor. 

New Professional Standards. — Such a system of 
education is neither a winter job for a farm hand (cf. p. 
11) nor a temporary source of pin-money for a high 



324 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL 

school girl while she waits to get married. It is a 
learned profession ! The rank and file of teachers 
must have both liberal education and extended technical 
training ; the commissioned officers must be leaders in 
the intellectual and moral life of the age and masters 
of the new educational science. And there must be 
developed a professional ethics and esprit-de-corps 
without which no profession can be a real profession. 
Such a profession must enjoy social prestige and 
material reward, otherwise it will not attract suitable 
men and women. And besides all this the mere 
growth of schools will call for very many more teachers 
than we are employing now. With these considerations 
in mind the reader will understand how very serious 
indeed the present crisis in the teacher supply really is. 
The Noble Calling of the Teacher. — With this 
glance into the future the reader will feel how really 
providential has been the growth our schools have made 
in the past, and how reverently grateful the true 
teacher ought to be for the privilege of being a 
^'laborer together with God" in the building of a new 
world. 



INDEX 



Academies, 59, 130, 152, 184. 

Achievements of pupils. See stand- 
ard tests. 

Administration. See county admin- 
istration, federal aid, state admin- 
istration, state aid, superintendent 
city, etc. 

"Adolescence," Hall's, 276. 

Age-grade distribution, 284, 287 ff. 
See elimination, retardation. 

Agricultural colleges, 131, 162, 200. 
See experimental stations. Hatch 
Act, land grants, and Morrill Act. 

Agricultural education, 107, 162, 185, 
196, 245, 252, 254, 287-288. See 
Boy Scouts, clubs, county agents, 
Morrill Act, Smith-Lever Act. 

Aim of education, 86, 266, 269, 295. 

Alcohol. See temperance. 

Alcott, A. Bronson, 125. 

Alcott, Louisa M., 125. 

Algebra, 230, 231. See mathematics. 

American Federation of Labor, 147, 
187, 313. 

Americanization, 144, 215, 217, 248, 
304, 314. 

American Journal of Education, 
176. 

American Missionary Association, 
181. 

American School Board Journal, 
299. 

Analytical method, 70, 81, 267. 

Angell, J. R., 79. 

Apperception, 93. 

Appreciation, 241, 242, 256, 280, 281. 

Apprenticeship, 17, 243, 245. 

Architecture, school. See school 
architecture. 

Aristocratic education, 2, 3, 20, 47, 
61 &., 108, 223, 316, 322. 



Arithmetic, 16, 50, 51, 68, 126, 153, 
173, 230, 265, 267, 279. 

Arithmetic, Colburn's, 51, 126. 

Arithmetic, Pike's, 50. 

Arithmetic, "Ray's Third Part," 
136, 230. 

Army schools, 247 ff. 

Art, 161, 170, 219, 240, 261, 267, 
287, 288, 321. 

Associations, educational. See vol- 
untary educational associations. 

Athletics, 251, 255. See physical 
education, play, recreation, etc. 

Ayres, Leonard P., 279, 285. 

Bache, A. D., 127. 

"Bachelor argument," 138. 

Barnard, Henry, 124, 126, 129, 176, 
177, 178. 

Baroness von Biilow, 98, 107, 171. 

Barrows, Thos. G., 124. 

Basedow, 32. 

Berkeley, Gov., 3. 

Berlin, University of, 172. 

Bible, 150, 256. 

Binet, 277. 

Blankenburg, 88, 97 ff . 

Blow, Susan E., 172. 

"Blue-backed Speller," 50. 

Board of education, 210. 

Board of Education, State, 178, 211. 
See Massachusetts. 

"Board" schools, 184, 223. See 
"voluntary " schools. 

Bobbitt, J. F., 234, 235, 285, 294. 

Bodemer, 65. 

Bolton, F. E., 297. 

Bonser, F. G., 294. 

Bookkeeping, 154, 157. See com- 
mercial. 

Boone, R. G., 49, 58, 163. 



325 



326 



INDEX 



Boston, 4, 7, 120, 125, 128, 286. 

Boston Survey, 286. 

Boy Scouts, 252 ff., 321. 

Bryn Mawr, 182. 

Billow. See Baroness, etc. 

Bureau of Education, 177, 178, 298, 
316. 

Burgdorf, 69, 76, 86. 

Business colleges, 157. See com- 
mercial. 

"Busy work," 107, 274. See con- 
struction work. 

Butler, Pres. N. M., 207. 

Capital and labor. See labor and 
capital. 

Carnegie, Andrew, 218. 

Carnegie Foundation, 297. 

Carter, James G., 117. 

Catechism, 50. 

Catholic Church, 45, 141. 

Centralization, 142, 143, 144, 177, 
185, 208. 

Certification of teachers, 129, 165. 

Chautauqua movement, 183, 218. 

Chicago, 286. 

Chicago Normal, 174. 

Chicago University. See University 
of Chicago. 

Child study, 265, 267, 276, 280, 293, 
297. 

China, 189, 224. 

Cincinnati plan, 203. 

Citizenship, education for, 38 ff., 
139, 142, 143, 152, 156, 160, 162, 
239, 270, 271-273, 301, 307. See 
Boy Scouts, civics, community 
civics, democratic education, de- 
mocracy, industrial progress, social 
progress, social studies. 

City administration, 179. See ad- 
ministration. 

City superintendency. See superin- 
tendent, city. 

Civics, 155, 239. See citizenship. 

Civil War, 29, 60, 124, 132, 153, 
156, 164, 172, 175, 182, 187, 189, 
232. 

Clark University, 200, 276. 

Classics, the, 21, 28, 58, 60, 61. See 
Latin. 



Classroom management, 279. See 
Page's "Theory etc.," White, 
E. E. 

Clay modeling, 107, 267, 274. 

Clergymen, education of, 220. 

Cleveland, 286. 

Cleveland Survey, 283. 

Clinics, school. See school clinics. 

Clubs, boys' and girls', 245, 252. 

Coeducation. See education of 
women. 

Coffman, L. D., 285. 

Colburn's Arithmetic. See arith- 
metic. 

College curriculum. See colleges. 

College entrance, 277. 

Colleges, 20, 39, 58, 130, 162, 199, 201, 
251, 260, 261, 276. See agricul- 
tural colleges. 

Colleges of education, 165, 297. 

Colleges, women's. See education 
of women. 

Colonial court, 17. 

Colonial schools, 1-21. 

Columbia University, 20, 200, 236, 
268. 

Commercial subjects, 157, 217, 260, 
287, 288. 

Commission, N. E. A., 208, 311. 313. 

Commissioner of Education, U. S., 
169, 178, 192, 222. 

Committee-men, 52. 

Committee of Fifteen, 207, 265. 

Committee of Ten, 236, 237, 259. 

Common branches. See the particu- 
lar subjects. 

Common people, education of, 20, 
24, 38, 61, 62. 

Common School Revival. See Great 
Educational Awakening. 

Community center, 136, 195, 251, 
254 ff., 273. See wider use, etc. 

Community civics, 239. 

Community music, 242. 

Composition, 279. See language. 

Compulsory attendance, 61, 121, 
179, 183, 273, 305, 317. 

Connecticut, 5, 7, 56, 123, 178. 

Consolidation, 19, 136, 196, 208. 

Construction work, 240, 265, 267, 
274. See "busy work." 



INDEX 



327 



Contagious diseases, 257. 
Continuation schools, 144, 224, 307, 

315. 
Cook, John W., 263. 
Corporal punishment, 18, 26, 88. 
Corporation schools, 246. 
Correlation, 90, 265, 293. 
Correspondence, 216. 
Costs, 57, 178, 191, 192, 194, 285, 

286, 287, 288, 308. 
County administration, 19, 129, 141, 

179. See county unit. 
County agents, 245. 
County superintendency, 129, 130, 

141, 210. 
County unit, 179, 210, 211, 213. 
Course of study. See curriculum. 
Court, colonial. See colonial court. 
Courtis, S. A., 279. 
Cubberley, E. P., 56, 137, 180, 210, 285. 
Cultural education. See recreation, 

Hterature, music, art. 
Culture epochs theory, 90, 91, 265, 

293. 
Curriculum, 12, 55 £f., 58, 61, 62, 87, 

88 ff., 135, 153, 160-162, 185, 195, 

201, 202, 205, 207, 226-262, 265, 

266, 267, 277, 281, 284, 293, 294, 

302, 307, 320. See extra-curric- 
ular activities. 

Curriculum, elementary, 157. 
Curriculum, high school. See high 
school curriculum. 

Dame schools, 8-12, 57, 132. 

Dancing, 107, 255. 

Darwin, 89. 

Defective children, 277. 

De Garmo, Charles, 263. 

Democracy, 37, 38, 41, 49, 60, 113, 
139, 140, 142, 143, 185, 208, 214, 
262, 272, 300, 302, 303, 307, 309, 
318, 322. See industrial progress, 
social progress. 

Democratic education, 2, 38 £f., 46, 
62, 108, 139, 140, 142, 143, 144, 
185, 190, 195,. 202, 208, 215, 223, 
250, 258, 261, 270, 273, 294, 302, 

303, 313, 315, 316, 317, 321. See 
common people, citizenship, poor 
education of, democracy. 



Denmark, 183. 

Department of Education, Federal, 

178, 215, 314. 
Department of Superintendence, N. 

E. A., 298. 
Dewey, John, 33, 36, 107, 190, 240, 

268-273. 
Dexter, F. B., 59. 
Diagnosis. See medical inspection, 

mental measurements, standard 

tests. 
Differences, individual. See indi- 
vidual differences. 
Disciplinary theory, 21, 26, 28, 259, 
• 281 ff. 
Discipline, 18, 26-28, 70, 73, 87, 122, 

132, 185, 271, 280. See corporal 

punishment. 
District school, the, 18 ff., 42, 48, 

127, 133 ff. 
District system, 42, 48, 121, 137, 

142, 143, 177, 179, 185, 309. See 

district school. 
Dock, Christopher, 6. 
Domestic art, 241. 
Domestic science, 107, 243, 244, 

260, 287, 288, 320. 
Draft, the selective, 303. 
Dramatics, 251, 273. 
Dramatization, 107, 209, 255, 274. 
Drawing, 107, 240, 255, 260, 274. 
Drill, 173, 280. 
Dwight, Edmund, 117, 119. 

Economics, 185, 188, 306. See social 
studies. 

" Education of Man, " 97, 101. 

Educational Administration and 
Supervision, 287, 299. 

Educational Associations. See vol- 
untary educational associations. 

Educational diagnosis. See stand- 
ard tests. 

Educational fads. See fads. 

Educational' periodicals. See peri- 
odicals educational. 

Educational progress, 191. See 
progress, industrial progress, so- 
cial progress. 

Educational psychology, 297. See 
mental measurements, psychology. 



328 



INDEX 



Educational research, 71, 287, 297. 

See science of education. 
Educational Review, 176. 
Educational science, 165, 166, 264. 

See science of education. 
Educational sociology, 166, 190, 283, 

294. 
Educational statistics, 191. 
Educational survey, 283-293. 
Edwards, Vivian W., 124. 
Electives, 161, 260. 
Elementary curriculum, 227 ff. See 

the various subjects. 
Elementary education, 20, 43, 61, 62, 

155, 160-162. 
Elementary School Journal, 299. 
Elimination, 197, 279, 284. 
Eliot, President Chas. W., 161, 207, 

227. 
femile, 23, 29 ff., 36. 
Endowments, 60. 
Engineering, 164, 200, 221. 
Enghsh education, 6, 9, 25, 44, 54, 

62, 77, 82, 126, 127, 145, 184, 223, 

303, 315. See analytical method, 

"board" schools, "voluntary" 

schools. 
Enriching the curriculum, 155. 
Enrollment, 191, 198, 284, 301. 
Entrance, college, 201. 
Equipment, 195, 248, 284, 308. 
Ethics, professional, 324. 
Etiquette, 24, 26, 27. 
European education. See English 

education, foreign education, etc., 

etc. 
Evening schools. See night schools. 
Evolution, 91. 
Examinations, 278. 
Experimentation, educational, 70, 71. 
Experiment stations, 163. 
Extension, educational, 182, 215 ff. 
Extra-curricular activities, 250 ff., 273. 

Fads, educational, 32, 56, 158, 170, 
171, 174, 227, 264, 267, 274. 

Family, education in the, 3. 

Federal administration, 19, 178, 314. 
See Bureau of Education, Com- 
missioner of Education, federal aid, 
land grants. 



Federal aid, 132, 144, 171, 212, 214, 

245, 252, 258, 309, 314, 322, 323. 

See federal administration. 
Federal Department of Education. 

See Department of Education. 
Fellenberg, 72, 181. 
Fichte, 64, 69, 82, 86, 95. 
Field schools, 47. 
Finances. See costs. 
Fisher Bill, 315. 
"Fitting" schools, 60. 
Flexner's "Modern School," 261. 
Folk dancing, 274. See dancing. 
Foreign education, 2, 18, 54 ff., 61 ff., 

43, 144, 183, 222 ff., 315 ff. 
Formal discipHne. See disciplinary 

theory. 
Formal English. See language. 
Formal steps, 92, 264. 
France, 22 f., 62, 145, 183, 224, 301, 

302, 316. 
Franklin, Benjamin, 39, 59. 
Freedmen's Aid Society, 181. 
Freedmen's Bureau, 181. 
Free schools, 41, 49, 61, 184, 185. 
Free School Society, 44, 56, 141. 
Free textbooks, 139, 323. 
Froebel, 33, 64, 69, 84, 94-108, 175, 

268, 269. 
Froebelianism, 157, 171-175, 251, 

267-275, 280, 293.. 
Furniture, 133, 195. See equipment. 

Gallaudet, Rev. F. H., 117. 

Galloway, Samuel, 124. 

Garfield, James A., 178. 

Gary schools, 204 ff. 

Gary Survey, 283. 

"General method," 263, 281. 

Geography, 50, 68, 90, 121, 173, 
232 ff., 239, 265. See Morse's 
Geography. 

Geometry, 230, 231. See mathe- 
matics. 

German education, 82, 120, 126, 128, 
131, 183, 200, 222, 224. 

Germans, 4. 

German universities. See universi- 
ties, German. 

Germany, 32, 62, 64, 88, 152, 263, 
302, 316. 



INDEX 



329 



Girls, education of, 12, 31, 320. See 
women, education of, domestic 
science. 

Goddard, 877. 

" Godless schools, " 141. 

Goethe, 64, 95. 

Goucher College, 182. 

Government supervision. See super- 
vision. 

Graded system, 57, 61, 127, 157, 158, 
202 fif., 277, 306. See mental 
measurements. 

Grammar, 154, 229. See language. 

"Grammar" schools, 21, 39, 57, 127. 

Graphic presentation, 285, 286, 287. 

Graves, F. P., 39, 159, 176. 

Great Educational Awakening, 109 ff. 

Great War, 189, 194, 224, 248, 258, 
275, 300. 

Greek. See Latin, classics. 

Griscom, John, 126. 

Groos, 251. 

Grube, 267. 

Guj-ot, 234. 

Gymnasium, German, 61. 

Hall, G. Stanley, 165, 251, 276. 

Hall, Samuel R., 116. 

Hampton Institute, 181. 

Harper, William R., 183, 216. 

Harris, W. T., 166, 172, 176. 

Harvard University, 2, 161, 207. 

Hatch Act, 163. 

Health work in schools, 215, 238, 
256 ff., 314. See athletics, clinics, 
hygiene, physical education, sani- 
tation, school nurse. 

Hegel, 64. 

Herbart, 33, 64, 69, 84-94, 90, 163. 

Herbartians, 236, 240, 263-266. See 
National Herbart Society. 

Herbartianism, 263-266, 280, 281, 
293. See correlation, culture 
epochs, Herbart, Herbartians, re- 
capitulation. Rein, Ziller. 

Herbartian Society, National. See 
National etc. 

Higher education, 19, 39, 322. See 
colleges, professional education, 
universities, etc. 

High schools, 60, 133, 152 £f., 201, 



235, 236, 191, 195, 251, 287, 288, 
297, 312. 

High school curriculum, 239, 241, 
258-261, 273, 287, 288. See ex- 
tra-curricular activities. 

Hillegas, M. B., 279. 

History, 88, 90, 121, 153, 156, 161, 
173, 236, 237, 239, 260, 261, 265, 
287, 288, 293, 302, 318, 319. 

Hofwyl, 72. 

Hollis, A. P., 169. 

Home projects, 274. 

Horace Mann. See Mann. 

Hornbook, 16. 

Houses, school. See schoolhouses. 

Huxley, 161. 

Hygiene, 121, 132, 237, 239, 285. 
See health work, school hygiene, 
etc. 

Hygiene, mental. See mental hy- 
giene. 

lUiteracy, 3, 40, 133, 215, 217, 248, 
249, 273, 303, 308, 310, 314, 317, 
318, 323. 

Individual differences, 277, 280. See 
mental measurements. 

Industrial education, 6, 17, 68, 70, 
72, 107, 181, 204, 206, 214, 217, 
243-250, 254, 260, 261, 294, 317. 
See apprenticeship, army schools, 
Cincinnati plan, continuation 
schools, corporation schools, demo- 
cratic education, Fellenberg, in- 
dustrial progress, Pestalozzianism, 
poor education of, Smith-Hughes 
Act. 

Industrial progress, 1, 41, 111, 146 ff., 
186 ff., 233, 243, 300. See Indus- 
trial Revolution. 

Industrial Revolution, 64, 246. 

Inspection, medical. See medical 
inspection. 

Instinct, 31, 32, 89, 275. 

Institutes, 121-123, 165, 173. 

Instrumental music, free instruction 
in, 242. 

Interest, the doctrine of, 21, 33 ff., 
104, 269, 293, 306. See Boy 
Scouts, Dewey, dramatization, Her- 
bartians, instincts, Froebelianism, 



330 



INDEX 



methods, motivation, Pestalozzian- 

ism, project teaching, Rousseau. 
Intermediate schools, 57. 
International Correspondence School, 

216. 
International relations, 189. 
Investment in equipment, 195. See 

equipment. 
Iowa, University of, 164. 
Italy, 183. 

James, William, 165. 

Japan, 184. 

Jefferson, Thomas, 38, 39, 47, 49. 

Jena, 85, 88, 91, 94, 101, 263. 

Jessup, Walter, 285. 

Johns Hopkins University, 165. 

Jones, M. E. M., 167. 

Journal of Education, 176. 

Journal of Educational Psychology, 

299. 
Journal of Educational Research, 

299. 
Judd, Prof. Charles H., 52, 285. 
Junior high school, 207, 233, 273. 
Junior Red Cross, 301. 

Kansas silent reading test, 279. 

Kant, 64. 

Keilhau, 88, 96. 

Kelly, F. J., 279. 

Kennedy, John, 202. 

Kindergarten, 97 ff., 171 ff., 255, 275. 

See primary school. 
Kriisi, Hermann, 167. 

Labor and capital, 147, 187, 321. 

Laboratories, 58, 107, 195, 273. 

Lancasterian system, 158. See moni- 
torial system. 

Land grant colleges, 178. See agri- 
cultural colleges. 

Land grants, 132, 178. See Morrill 
Act. 

Language, 68, 154, 229, 260. 

Languages, 58, 129, 154, 260, 261, 

282, 287, 288. 

Latin, 20, 21, 60, 61, 162, 259, 282, 

283, 287, 288. 
Law of 1642, 4. 
Law of 1647, 3, 18. 



I Law of 1834, 49. 
Law schools, 163, 220. 
League of Nations, 235. 
Leipzig, 90, 165, 263. 
"Leonard and Gertrude," 67, 72. 
Lewis, Samuel, 124. 
Libraries, 121, 217, 218. 
Literature, 16, 21, 41, 58, 88, 90, 150, 

153, 188, 228, 259, 260, 261, 265, 

293, 321. 
"Little Men," 125. 
Local autonomy, 130, 142, 143, 144. 
Local taxes, 6, 7, 8, 9, 40, 43, 44, 49, 

137 ff., 177, 179, 184, 185, 210, 212, 

223, 310. See "rates." 
"Lock step," 280. See grading. 
Lutherans, 123, 141. 
Lyon, Mary, 131. 

McConathy, Osborne, 242. 

McMurry, C A., 222, 228, 263. 

McMurry, Frank, 263. 

Madison, James, 38. 

Management, classroom. See class- 
room management. 

Mann, Horace, 76, 116-123, 124, 125, 
126, 129, 132, 138, 141, 169. 

Manual training, 107, 157, 243, 244, 
265, 282, 287, 288. 

Mason, Lowell, 126. 

Massachusetts, 1, 3, 4, 17, 18, 20, 52, 
122, 211. 

Mathematics, 20, 61, 244. 259, 260, 
261, 283, 287, 288. 

Median, 292. 

Medical inspection, 256, 285, 303, 
315, 320. 

Medical schools, 131, 163, 220. 

Mental hygiene, 280. 

Mental measurements, 249, 277, 
305 ff. 

Mental tests. See mental measure- 
ments. 

Methods, 17, 26, 30, 50 £f., 54 ff., 
62, 87, 92, 107, 122, 132, 185, 
192, 195, 203, 205, 219, 226, 231, 
233, 236, 240, 241, 242, 244, 247, 
248, 251, 252, 255, 263, 264, 266, 
267, 271, 273-275, 277, 278, 280, 
281, 301, 317, 322. See disciplin- 
ary theory, interest, motivation, 



INDEX 



331 



project, self-activity, social partici- 
pation. 

Michigan, 48, 124, 162. 

Mills, Caleb, 124. 

Monitorial system, 54 ff., 203, 306. 

Monroe Doctrine, 41. 

Montessori, 275. 

"Moonlight schools," 216. 

Moral education, 15, 121, 155, 160, 
189, 247, 252, 271, 277, 321. See 
Boy Scouts, religious education. 

Morehouse, Frances, 280. 

Morrill Act, 163, 245. See land 
grants. 

Morse's Geography, 50. 

Mothers as teachers, 3, 9, 57, 132. 

Motivation, 18, 21, 107, 230, 251, 274. 
See Froebelianism, Herbartianism, 
culture epochs, interest, Pestaloz- 
zianism, self-activity, social par- 
ticipation, Rousseau. 

Moving pictures, 80, 216, 219. 

Music, 16, 121, 126, 154, 156, 161, 
200, 219, 241, 251, 260, 261, 273, 
276, 282, 287, 288, 321. See In- 
strumental music. 

Mysticism, Froebel's, 101, 275. 

National Educational Association, 
127, 165, 175, 208, 236, 259, 265, 
311, 313. 

N. E. A. Commission. See Com- 
mission, N. E. A. 

National Herbart Society, 264. 

NationaHsm, 40. 

Nationalization, period of, 38, 63, 73. 

National Society for the Study of 
Education, 264, 284, 298. 

Naturahzation, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 
36, 103. 

Nature study, 157, 170, 173, 266. 

Negroes, education of, 181. See 
Freedmen's, etc., industrial train- 
ing, Hampton, South, Tuskegee. 

Neuhof, 67, 71. 

New England, 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12, 16, 
18, 41, 48, 57, 115, 127, 163, 173, 
179, 278. 

New England Common School Re- 
vival. See Great Educational 
Awakening. 



New England Primer, 13 ff., 50, 

51. 
New Froebelianism, 267. 
New York, 1, 5, 42, 46, 169, 211. 
New York City, 3, 43, 44, 45, 123. 
Nicotine, 237. 

Night schools, 204, 216, 243 ff., 255. 
Normal schools, 121, 122, 167 ff., 185, 

257, 264, 296, 311, 312. See 

training of teachers. 
North Central Association, 298. 
Norway, 144. 
Nurse. See school nurse. 

Objective method, 68, 70, 74, 126, 
219, 233, 266. See Pestalozzianism. 

Orchestras, 242, 273, 274. 

Oswego Normal School, 166 ff. 

"Outlines of Educational Doctrine," 
86. 

Page's "Theory and Practice of 

Teaching," 175. 
Papers, school, 251. 
Parker, Col. Francis W., 172, 175, 

229, 234, 235, 240, 265, 267. 
Parker, S. C, 27, 51, 56, 75, 90. 
Parochial schools, 141, 145, 184, 197, 

255, 305. See "voluntary." 
Part-time schools, 145, 317. See 

night schools. 
Pauper schools, 45, 48. 
Peabody, EHzabeth Palmer, 125, 171. 
Peabody Fund, 181. 
Pedagogical fads. See fads. 
Pedagogical literature, 125 ff., 175, 

185, 298 ff . 
Pedagogical Seminary, 299, 176. 
Pedagogy. See science of education, 

theory of education. 
Pennsylvania, 4, 6, 17, 47 ff., 49, 123, 

139, 169, 213. See Germans, Law 

of 1834, Philadelphia. 
Pennsylvania Law of 1834, 141. 
Periodicals, educational, 274, 299. 

See various periodicals listed in 

italics. 
Perry, C. A., 254. 
Pestalozzi, 22, 33, 37, 64 ff., 125, 

126, 175, 266. 
Pestalozzianism, 62, 70, 82, 83, 86, 



332 



INDEX 



156, 157, 166-171, 181, 219, 233, 
234, 266. 

Phi Beta Kappa, 58. 

Philadelphia, 1, 46, 56, 59, 286. 

Philanthropy, 44, 48, 181. See 
poor, pauper, etc. 

Philbrick, John D., 168. 

Philosophy of education. See theory 
of education. 

Phonics, 227. 

Phonograph, 219, 241, 242, 274. 

Physical education, 35, 157, 170, 238, 
251, 252, 258, 260, 285, 287, 288, 
303, 314. See athletics, Boy 
Scouts, health work, hygiene, sani- 
tation. 

Physiographic theory, 233. 

Physiology, 160. See hygiene. 

Pierce, John D., 124, 129. 

Pike's Arithmetic. See arithmetic. 

Plato, 21, 39. 

Play, 136, 195, 247, 250 ff., 268, 274. 
See Groos, Hall, Spencer. 

Poor, education of, 2, 3, 25, 43, 45 ff., 
145, 172, 317, 323. See Free 
School Society, pauper schools, 
philanthropy, S. P. C. K., S. P. 
G., "voluntary" schools, etc. 

Population, growth of, 41, 110, 148, 
192. 

Popular Education, 176. 

Portland Survey, 283. 

Primer, New England. See New 
England Primer. 

Primary schools, 57, 127, 128, 132. 
274. 

Primary Education, 299. 

Princeton University, 20. 

Private schools, 7, 8, 9, 12. 16, 62, 
45, 47, 61, 145, 197, 223, 305, 316. 
See "voluntary" schools. 

Problem solving, 270. 

Professional education, 182, 200, 219. 
See the various professions. 

Professionalizing teaching. See train- 
ing of teachers. 

Pro-German, 305, 323. 

Progress, 192. See industrial prog- 
ress, social progress. 

Projects, home. See home projects. 

Project teaching, 107, 244, 252, 268. 



Prussia, 82, 88, 99, 126. 

Psychology, 52, 71, 79, 94, 165, 203. 
240, 250, 251, 266, 269, 275- 
281, 293. See child study, edu- 
cational psychology, mental meas- 
urements. 

PubHc schools, 9, 41, 48, 49, 60, 61, 
132, 181. 

Pupils' achievements. See standard 
tests. 

Puritanism, 3, 16, 20. 

Puritans, 17. 

Quincy Movement, 172, 173. 

Radicalism, 306. 
"Rates," 6. 

"Ray's Third Part." See arith- 
metic. 
Reading, 15. 51 ff., 81, 132, 156, 226, 

267, 279, 281. 
Reading methods, 50, 122, 226, 267, 

281. 
Recapitulation, 90, 268. 
Recent period. 186-324. 
Recitation, 92, 280. 
Recreation, 321. See Froebelian- 

ism, moral education, play. 
Red Cross. See Junior Red Cross. 
Rein. 91, 263. 
Religious education, 30, 255 ff. See 

catechism, moral education. 
Religious Education Association, 256, 

298. 
Religious motives in education , 3, 

5. 8, 12, 17. 40, 41, 45, 130, 131, 

150, 189. See parochial schools. 

philanthropy, poor, "voluntary" 

schools, etc. 
Research. See educational research. 
Results. See standard tests. 
Retardation, 284. 
Revolutionary War, 1. 12, 16, 19, 20, 

23, 38, 40, 43, 50, 58. 
Rousseau. 22-37, 65. 70. 103, 105, 

108. 202, 270, 276, 293. 
Rural education, 158, 188, 208, 214, 

215, 258, 306, 307 ff., 314. See 

district schools, etc. 
Russell. Dean J. E., 252. 
Russia, 303, 317. 



INDEX 



333 



Sand tables, 173. 

Sanitation, 121, 195, 237. 

Scales, 279. Sec standard tests. 

Schelling, 64. 

Schiller, 64, 95. 

Schleiermacher, 64. 

School and Home Education, 176. 

School and Society, 297, 299. 

School architecture, 258. 

School boards, 130, 137, 284. 

School clinics, 257. 

School district. See district system. 

Schoolhouses, 11, 57, 121, 122, 133, 
195, 255, 284, 286, 301, 308. 

School hygiene, 256, 284, 285, 303. 

School laws. See Law of, etc. 

School management. See classroom 
management. 

School nurse, 257. 

School Review, 176. 

"Schools of Tomorrow," 107. 

School year, 121, 122, 191, 193, 308, 
310. 

Schurz, Frau, 172. 

Science, 20, 129, 153, 160, 219, 224, 
259, 260, 261, 273, 287, 288, 319. 
See agricultural education, Eliot, 
Harris, Huxley, nature st\idy, 
Spencer. 

Science of education, 77, 275-278, 
281, 283-299. See costs, educa- 
tional sociology, mental measure- 
ments, psychology, surveys, etc., 
etc. 

Science teaching, 159. 

Score cards, 286, 291. 

Scouts. See Boy Scouts. 

Secondary curriculum, 160-162. 

Secondary education, 19, 39, 59 ff., 
132, 152 fif., 186, 196-198, 203, 
207, 223, 267, 272, 273, 279, 316. 
See academies, college entrance, 
gymnasium, grammar schools, 
high schools, junior high school. 
North Central Association. 

Secular control, 140, 183, 305. See 
democratic education, local taxes, 
state administration. See reli- 
gious motives. 

Self-activity, 102 ff., 267-270, 274, 
294, 301. See Froebel, etc., in- 



terest, problem solving, project 
teaching, motivation. See social 
participation. 

Sheldon, E. A., 156. 

Shortage of teachers, 311 £f., 324. 
See wages. 

Shorthand, 157, 260. See com- 
mercial. 

Simon, Dr. Th., 277. See Binet. 

Six- three- three plan, 208. See junior 
high school. 

Slater Fund, 181. 

Sloyd, 157. See manual training, 
Froebel, etc. 

Smith College, 182. 

Smith-Hughes Law, 215, 245, 307. 
See industrial education. 

Smith-Lever Act, 215, 245, 252, 266. 
See agriculture. 

Smith-Towner Bill, 314, 315. See 
democratic education. South, uni- 
versal secondary education. 

Smith, W. R., 295. 

Social participation, 102, 104 ff., 
267-274, 301. See interest, moti- 
vation, Froebel, etc. See self- 
activity. 

Social problems, 151, 162, 188. 

Social progress, 1, 23, 41 ff., 113 ff., 
149, 186, 258, 262, 271, 300, 301, 
313, 314, 318, 319, 320, 323, 324. 
See democracy, industrial progress, 
social reform. 

Social reform, 67, 70, 137, 142, 143, 
182, 269, 272, 273, 306, 309, 316, 
317, 321. See social progress. 

Social studies, 161, 162, 236, 239, 
306. See citizenship, democratic 
education. 

Society for the Promotion, etc. 
See S. P. C. K., S. P. G. 

Society for the Study of Education. 
See National Society, etc. 

Society, Free School. See Free 
School Society. 

Sociology, 185, 188, 294, 306, 319, 
320. See economics, social studies. 

Sociology, educational. See educa- 
tional sociology. 

South, the, 2, 8, 47, 124, 132, 151. 
169, 180-182, 252, 310, 311, 323. 



334 



INDEX 



Spanish American War, 189. 

Spaulding, F. E., 304. 

S. P. C. K., 44, 62. 

Special methods, 281, 297. See 
reading, writing, etc. 

Spelhng, 50, 71, 135, 154, 174, 229, 278. 

Spelling Book, Webster's. See Web- 
ster's, etc. 

Spelling methods, 50, 122, 231. 

Spencer, Herbert, 160, 251. 

S. P. G., 44. 

Standards, 290. 

Standard tests, 232, 278 £f., 281, 285, 
290 ff., 297. 

Stanz, 68, 71. 

State administration, 19, 129, 141, 
179. See state aid, state superin- 
tendent. 

State aid, 43, 44, 121, 122, 144, 179, 
212, 214. 

State superintendent, 29, 130, 179, 
211, 213, 252. 

Statistics, educational, 192, 193, 284, 
287, 288. 

Stewart, Cora Wilson, 217. 

St. Louis, 166, 172, 286. 

Stowe, Calvin E., 126, 127, 129. 

St. Paul Survey, 283, 291. 

Strayer, G. D., 285. 

Student activities, 107, 273. See 
extra-curricular activities, social 
participation. 

Sub-normal children. See mental 
measurements. 

Summer schools. See institutes. 

Sunday schools, 306. 

Superintendence, N. E. A. Dept. of, 
178. 

Superintendent, city, 137, 197, 284, 
292. 

Superintendent, county. See county 
superintendent. 

Superintendent, state. See state 
superintendent. 

Supervision, 19, 52, 61, 207, 278. 

Supervision of private schools by 
the government, 247, 305. 

Surveys, 297 ff . See educational sur- 
veys. 

Switzerland, 65, 85, 86 

Sweden, 183. 



Taxes, local. See local taxes. 

Teachers, 11, 16, 21, 54 ff., 57, 285, 
308. See certification. 

Teachers, shortage of. See shortage 
of teachers. 

Teachers College Record, 299. 

Teachers' unions, 313. 

Teachers' wages. See wages of 
teachers. 

Teachers, women. See women aa 
teachers. 

Teacher training. See colleges of 
education, normal schools, training 
of teachers. 

Technique of teaching, 278, 322. 
See methods. 

Temperance teaching, 237. 

Terman, L. M., 277. 

Tests, army. See mental measure- 
ments. 

Tests, mental. See mental tests. 

Tests, standard. See standard tests. 

Textbooks, 12, 14, 16, 50 ff., 121, 
122, 242. See New England 
Primer, Webster's Speller, and the 
various subjects. 

Textbooks, free. See free text- 
books. 

Theology, 18. 

Theory of education, 160, 166, 190, 
205, 248, 263-283, 293 ff., 295. 

Thomas' "Source Book," 90. 

Thorndike, E. L., 276, 279. 

"Three R's," 51, 155. See reading, 
writing, arithmetic. 

Town. See township. 

Township, 7, 12, 18 £f., 43. 

Trades education. See industrial 
education. 

Training of teachers, 132, 164, 167 ff., 
185, 295 ff., 308, 311, 314, 323. 
See pedagogical literature, teacher 
training, periodicals, etc. 

Transference of training. See dis- 
ciplinary theory. 

Transition period, 146-185. 

Transportation, 139, 147. 

Trusts, 148, 186 ff. 

Tuition, 7, 44, 48, 60, 61, 152, 323. 

Tutors, 2, 3, 243. 

Type solids, 240. 



INDEX 



335 



Unions, teachers'. See teachers' 
unions. 

Uniforms, 139. 

Universal education, 68, 132, 145. 
See illiteracy. 

Universal secondary education, 60, 
145, 185, 196, 273, 315, 317, 321. 

Universities, 130, 199, 216. See col- 
leges, Chicago, Columbia, Har- 
vard, Yale, etc., etc., German 
universities, higher education. 

Universities, German, 200. See Ber- 
lin, Jena, Leipzig, Zurich. 

University of Chicago, 200, 216, 236, 
268. 

University of Iowa, 164. 

University of Michigan, 200. 

University of Pennsylvania, 38, 59. 

Vacations, 132. 

Vassar College, 181. 

Ventilation, 256. See school hy- 
giene, sanitation. 

Vocational education, 217, 255, 305, 
307, 320. See industrial educa- 
tion. 

Vocational guidance, 249 ff., 277, 320. 

Volkschulen, 61. See German edu- 
cation. 

Voluntary educational associations, 
127, 298. See N. E. A., Religious 
Education Association, etc. 

"Voluntary" schools, 145, 184, 223. 
See English education, parochial 
schools. See "board" schools. 

Vincent, Bishop J. H., 183. 



Virginia, 1, 2, 9, 20, 39, 47, 132, 181. 
See South. 

Wages of teachers, 11, 121, 191, 194, 

312, 324. 
Ward, Lester F., 190, 269, 294. 
War of 1812, 41, 54. 
War-time activities, 300. 
Washington, George, 38, 190. 
Webster, Noah, 50, 51. 
Webster's Spelling Book, 50. 
Wellesley College, 182. 
Wells, H. G., 262, 302. 
White, E. E., 175, 178. 
Wider use of the school plant, 254 ff., 

321. See community center, 

equipment, Perry, C. A. 
William and Mary College, 20, 39, 

58. 
Williams College, 58. 
Wirt, Wmiam A., 205 
Women as teachers, 57, 135, 182, 

191, 194. See dame schools, 

mothers as, etc. 
Women, education of, 31, 131, 182, 

221. See girls education of. 
World War. See Great War. 
Writing, 16, 51, 267, 278. 

Yale University, 20, 58, 165, 217 £f. 
Y. M. C. A. schools, 217 ff., 249. 
Yverdon, 69, 71, 75, 82, 88, 96. 
Y. W. C, A., 249. 

Ziller, 90, 92, 263. 
Zurich, University of, 65. 



Printed in the United States of America. 



H 2U 79 




!I=IP N. MANCHtSltK, ^^'^ ^ 



INDIANA 46962 



